With an average speed of 50.91 km/h, Soren Wearensjöld’s sprint was the fastest road stage of the 113 Tours.
Published July 15, 2026
Norwegian Soren Wallenskjold begins a long-distance sprint to win the Tour de France in the race’s fastest stage in history.
Dutchman Olaf Kooi, who won the fifth stage, was second at the end of the 161-kilometer (100-mile) 11th stage from Vichy to Nevers, while Belgian Milan Fretin was promoted from fourth to third after compatriot Jasper Philipsen was demoted.
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With an average speed of 50.91 km/h (31.63 mph), Wednesday’s sprint was the fastest road stage of the 113th Tour de France.
“This means everything. It’s the biggest win so far,” said the 26-year-old, who finished second in Bordeaux on stage seven and won the Omloop Het Nysblad one-day classic last year.
“When I came here, I knew there were a couple of guys faster than me, but if I’m lucky and have a good sprint like I did today, I have a chance.
“Sometimes I’m very confident and believe in myself, but I’m very tired and often feel like it’s impossible to win here.”
Once again, the sprint finish was pretty disjointed, with no team able to organize a sprint train to set up the fast guys.
As the main sprinters hesitated, Coy’s lead rider Ciesz Boll took the lead, but it was Warenskjold who chased the Dutchman first.
He instantly put several bicycles’ worth of sunlight between himself and the rest, and although Coy and Philipsen both caught him at the line, they did not have enough power to overtake Wearensjöld.
Belgian Tim Merlier, who won the seventh and eighth sprint stages, finished in a disappointing 14th place.
Eritrean Binium Gilmay finished fifth, reducing his lead over Mads Pedersen in the race for the Sprinters’ green jersey to 43 points, but the Dane could only manage 10th place.
This was the second race stage win for the Norwegian Uno-X Mobility team, which is in its first year on the World Tour, after Jonas Abrahamsen won once last year.
The team held the yellow jersey for two stages this year with Thorstein Train before going down with a concussion and broken ribs.
Reigning champion Tadej Pogačar finished safely within the pack, holding an overall lead of more than three and a half minutes over former two-time winner Jonas Vinzigaard.
He held off a fast pace, thanks in part to the strength of the riders who got away.
“There were a lot of chances for the escapers to reach the finish line. The sprint team is in control and we need to catch up,” said the 27-year-old world champion.
“We had a strong breakaway today, so we have to have a lot of speed.
“Once I caught them, I immediately slowed down. It was very interesting to run the remaining 5km to 2km (3.1 to 1.2 miles). It’s the slowest run of the day.”
“The biggest reason is also the tailwind. If you have a headwind, your speed will drop considerably.
“But when you have such a strong breakaway in front of you, it goes faster.”
The breakaway of the quartet, which began in the ancient spa town of Vichy, began early in the stage.
He was never allowed to lead for much longer than 1 minute 40 seconds, and four leads became three when former world champion and yellow jersey Frenchman Julien Alaphilippe was dropped on a short climb with about 40 kilometers (25 miles) to go.
However, Anson Charmig, Matthijs Le Vert and Nelson Oliveira worked well together to resist the peloton’s inevitable return.
With 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to go, their lead was down to just 20 seconds.
But within 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) their resistance was over and the expected sprint took center stage.
