Wittenberg

Standings after stage 1:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	255	+255
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	210	+210
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	205	+205
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	170	+170
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	160	+160
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	145	+145
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	140	+140
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	135	+135
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	65	+65

Stage 2 Tarragona -> Barcelona

A stage for puncheurs, on paper, but the final circuit in the hilly Montjuic suburb of Barcelona was too hard for most stagehunters and it ended up being an early affair between GC riders. Our two most popular picks (both on 6/9 teams) got an 1-2, with Isaac del Toro claiming the win ahead of Tadej Pogacar, and the other two final podium favourites Evenepoel and Vingegaard taking 3-4 close behind.

High scoring result for most teams, due to TCAT riders comprising the entirety of the top 10 (and 16 of the top 20). It is however Velociposse taking a closely contested stage win ahead of the Mençeis and GHST, thanks to holding four of the top 6 finishers to the other two teams's three. These same three teams also make up the current overall podium, with the Mençeis still on top.

Standings after stage 2:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	993	+738
2nd	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	922	+762
3rd	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	843	+698
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	810	+640
5th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	792	+582
6th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	762	+627
7th	(-4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	667	+462
8th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	602	+462
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	567	+502

Today's stage is already about to finish!

Woohoo! The Posse might be in contention for this stage.

Stage 3   »   Granollers  ›  Les Angles

TCAT crossed the border into Spain today. There was a break including Baudin (GHS/CHX), Pedersen (REX/VFL/MMM), Van Mechelen (CFA) and Cort (CFA), with Baudin especially scoring a lot of points on the way, but in the end everyone was caught by the peloton. The pure sprinters were dropped on the climbs along the way, but with a lot of riders still remainining in the reduced peloton, but a pretty steep uphill finish, the result was some sort of uphill reduced bunch sprint, which perhaps unsurprisingly was won by Pogacar (CFA/CJO/BDC/GHS/MMM/CHX) who also took the lead in GC and yellow jersey.

Also in the top 10: Vingegaard (BDC/VFL/EVC), Carapaz (CJO/BDC/CHX), Seixas (CFA), T.H. Johannessen (GHS/VFL), Lipowitz (REX/GHS/CHX), Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL), Del Toro (REX/GHS/VFL/MMM/CHX/EVC) and Ayuso (REX/EVC)

The result is a stagewin for Cyclohexane, who climb to 3rd place in standings. GHST also did well and are now in second place, while the Menceis keep the lead overall.

Standings after stage 3:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	1584	+591
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1550	+707
3rd	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1523	+761
4th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	1495	+573
5th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	1338	+671
6th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	1305	+495
7th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	1286	+494
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1172	+570
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1153	+586

Stage 4  »  Carcassonne  ›  Foix

Yesterday TCAT departed from my favourite boardgame's namesake town, for a medium mountain stage that looked perfect for a breakaway. We did indeed get a large one, with riders from most TCAT teams and plenty of stagehunters, but the win went to Mads Pedersen (EVC/MMM/REX), more of a punchy sprinter, who survived the couple of significant climbs along the way to get an important victory for his point classification aspirations - given he will be at a disadvantage to the pure sprinters in the flatter stages to come.

Other than the Dane, only Mathias Vacek (CHX, 10th) and Vlad van Mechelen (CFA, 13th) got stage finish points, which means we get a pretty low scoring result for everyone but the three Pedersen teams. The stagewin itself goes to Esqipă Velocostă, who moves up three places, as does REX; while MMM, a very close second today, solidifies their grasp on the lead for the time being.

Standings after stage 4:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	1932	+348
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1715	+192
3rd	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	1652	+347
4th	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	1640	+354
5th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1639	+89
6th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	1590	+95
7th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	1409	+71
8th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1259	+106
9th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1234	+62

Today, the first bunch sprint finish is almost certainly coming up, with the pure sprinters finally getting a chance at delivering for their teams. Might be a good chance for Velocostă to get two in a row, as the only team with two sprinters (Pedersen and Bittner), or for Velociposse to also try and get a second win thanks to Philipsen, potentially the fastest pure sprinter among those picked in TCAT.

Brief trivia moment: with EVC and MMM winning stages already, they both confirm their record of getting a stagewin in every edition they competed in. GHST is the only other team who may also join them by winning one of the remaining 17 stages. Team in the Wind is not competing in this edition, but they also technically share that record by winning three stages in the one leg they took part in.

With their stagewin on Sunday, Velociposse became the third team to win 20 stages in TCAT; there was a "hidden" small race to be the first to cross that threshold between them, the Mençeis and Cyclohexane, and they indeed all won a stage already, but Cyclohexane initially stood at 18 stagewins (now 19) and the Mençeis at 17 (now 18). The Mençeis also overtook Port Maxhestic for fifth overall in the all-time stagewin ranking. Gonna be interesting to see who among the three will get the most after this leg is completed!

We have that board game! We only tried playing it a couple of times, but maybe we should give it another chance.

Any chance I can transfer my success here over to my world cup bracket? Mads Pedersen would maybe make a good football player...

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on July 08, 2026, 09:32:12 AMWe have that board game! We only tried playing it a couple of times, but maybe we should give it another chance.

Well I can't claim to be a boardgame expert, but it's great fun and pretty simple to pick up! Plenty of expansions you can pick-and-choose to round it out too.

It was pretty simple. As I recall, the only reason we stopped playing is because my buddy got a Dune board game he really wanted to do.

One thing I really liked about Carcassone was that it felt like you ended up making a work of art with the tiles by the end of the game. Just very nice to look at, in the way that I didn't I feel like Catan was.

I had written an update, but then I accidentally clicked something and then upsettingly, it was gone, so you get the short version:

There was a sprint. Kooij won, Kanter came second. Veistroffer was solo in front of the peloton for most of the day. De Lie already abandoned in stage 3.

GHST scored the most points. Menceis remain in the lead.

Standings after stage 5:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	2119	+187
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2024	+309
3rd	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1983	+344
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	1901	+249
5th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	1856	+216
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	1795	+205
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	1687	+278
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1343	+84
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1290	+56

Tomorrow a big day for climbers and GC contenders: it's Tourmalet day!

Stage 6  »  Pau  ›  Gavarnie-Gèdre

Quick update. First stage for GC favourites, with TCAT climbing the mighty Tourmalet, and unsurprisingly it went to Tadej Pogacar, with Jonas Vingegaard best of the rest. Isaac del Toro got best of the rest of the rest, then, ahead of Evenepoel, Seixas, Lipowitz, Ayuso and Skjelmose.

So today mostly set the stage for who's going to round out the top 10 in the general classification, with people like Johannessen, Carapaz and Pidcock now delayed by 5 or more minutes from the bulk of the other top 10 contestants, and Cian Uijtdebroeks (BDC) unfortunately withdrawing outright after reportedly surviving a couple of day with a fever. That sadly makes it two TCAT retirements through illness, with Arnaud De Lie (CJO) bowing out early too.

Another stagewin for the Mençeis, who gain slightly on Cyclohexane in the overall standings and also match their number of all time stage wins (19).

Standings after stage 6:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	2887	+768
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2766	+742
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2680	+697
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	2610	+709
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	2503	+647
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	2446	+651
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	2244	+557
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1977	+634
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1769	+479

Coming up, two sprint stages in a row. Will Kooij (BDC/GHS) confirm the stage win he got on stage 5, will Kanter (CHX) do one better, will Pedersen (REX/VFL/MMM) suddenly find more raw speed in these flat sprints, or will Philipsen (VFL) redeem his weak showing two days ago?

Stage 7   »   Hagetmau  ›  Bordeaux

Yesterday was destined to be a sprint stage again. Much like stage 5, Veistroffer (GHS) spent most of the day in front until the sprint teams came to get him, expect he at least had company this time. No second stagewin for Kooij (BDC/GHS), who got boxed in before the finish and didn't really get to participate in the sprint. Instead the sprint went to Merlier. Kanter (CHX) was the first TCAT rider across the line, followed by Philipsen (VFL).

However, it was Els Talossaes Rexhital who scored the most points, as Godon, Pedersen and Bittner all finished in the top 3. Due to Godon also getting involved in sprints REX is basically a three sprinter team. Of course Cyclohexane also did well due to Kanter. The Menceis remain in the lead, while Naziun Cjovani had another poor result and keep the red lantern.

Standings after stage 7:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	3146	+259
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3063	+297
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	2946	+336
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2846	+166
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	2761	+258
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	2680	+234
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	2333	+89
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2186	+209
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1844	+75

Tomorrow will be another pretty flat day, so good chance at another bunch sprint. Good chances for REX to score again.

I had a lot riding on Uijtdebroeks and had pretty high hopes of him doing well in GC. His withdrawal is pretty disappointing :(

Good job to my team!

-Txec R

Stage 8  »  Périgueux  ›  Bergerac

Not much to say; another bunchsprint won by non-TCAT Merlier. Kooij (BDC/GHS) got third place ahead of Philipsen (VFL) and Bittner (EVC/REX).

Much like yesterday, REX won the most points with Pedersen placing 12th and Godon 14th. REX also moves into second by a single point, with the top three less than 100 points apart. (And since I've been in the business of recording all time stagewin stats lately, the Royals are now at 10, the twelfth team to reach double digits.)

Standings after stage 8:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	3368	+222
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	3286	+340
3rd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3285	+222
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3128	+282
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	3049	+288
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	2952	+272
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	2582	+249
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2298	+112
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1920	+76

One stage left before the first restday: a rolling breakaway friendly stage suited for a breakaway. Could be a little too climb-heavy for classic-type riders like Pedersen (EVC/MMM/REX) and van der Poel (REX/VFL), though this is another of those stages Pedersen has to go for if he wants to keep his lead in the points classification. Maybe better suited for climbers down in GC like Healy (CJO), Carapaz (BDC/CHX/CJO), Baudin (CHX/GHS) or Arensman (CJO), but more versatile stagehunters like Abrahamsen (EVC/VFL) are also bound to try and get a say. Should be a fun watch!

Brief restday thoughts before we wait for the Stage 9 update. (spoiler: in order of current standing, but you can check those on Velogames anyway.)

The candidates for the win

REX: A very strong team so far, with none of their picks performing poorly, REX - sporting two sprinters, a versatile unclassed-sprinter in Godon and the two most expensive unclassed stagehunters in Pidcock and van der Poel - made the most of this first week featuring three sprints and a few breakaway stages. It will have to be seen whether this carries into the harder stages, but even there all of their four allrounders and climbers are still in contention for the GC top 5 (3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th currently). Could a team without Pogacar and Vingegaard surprise us with a shocking win?

MMM: Off the top of my mind, the second team to ever go heavily for the favourite IRL trade team, that being Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG. And the first time it happened, it went well, with Banqeu de Cézembre winning the 2023 TCAT Spain leg. This time too, the initial results are promising, with Pogacar and del Toro winning a combined three stages and two podiums alongside a third place for UAE in the team time trial; and it certainly helps that MMM also selected Pedersen, who is already 83% of the way to 100 points per credit, our usual benchmark for a great pick. The problem in the end might be the dearth of riders placing high in the final GC, with only Pogacar, del Toro and Skjelmose left to score meaningful End of Tour points. Maybe Vingegaard crumbles and MMM gets 1-2, or maybe Yates climbs up a bit?

GHS: I would characterise GHS's first week as "consistently okay". Just one stagewin, but usually ranked high when it mattered. Kooij did win a stage, but failed to score on the next occasion, which given there's just one clear sprint opportunity left, plus three "maybe"s, feels like too little - especially given Pedersen would have cost the same amount of credits. Still waiting for Paret-Peintre to make his mark as well once the terrain gets hillier. A team well placed for later, but without breakout moments so far.

CHX: Similar to GHS, given they share five riders, but with a better and cheaper sprinter in Kanter. Unfortunately the extra credits did not bear fruit so far, with Carapaz very delayed in GC (where, if it ends up being GHS vs CHX, he will have to square up against Johannessen to make the difference) and Vacek seemingly hamstrung in having to support Pedersen. Also waiting for Paret-Peintre to get to the mountains, and who knows, maybe Wellens is as good a candidate as any to be allowed by UAE to go for a stagewin later. Again a team well placed for later, except obviously, for the moment, Carapaz < Johannessen means it should be at a slight disadvantage to GHS.

The outsiders/midpack contenders

VFL: The second of three teams without Pogacar, it nevertheless holds the current 2nd, 3rd and 4th riders in GC, which would justify the gamble. Though the other riders have to start doing better for them to have a chance, with Philipsen so far winless and outscored by three cheaper or equal sprinters, van der Poel fresh off a stage win but a long way from 100 ppc still, and the other three unclassed riders mum. In particular, Abrahamsen hasn't featured at all so far, but hopefully we'll see the Norwegian get some breakaway action soon.

EVC: The final team without Pogacar, it does have a trio of GC riders in the top 5, plus the already mentioned Pedersen, but Jorgenson being low in the Vingegaard helper pecking order is not helping his points tally - an expensive miss given he is 10 credits. Pidcock had an okay first week with a third place yesterday, and is still just outside the top 10 in GC, meaning he has a shot at 100 ppc, unlike, IMO, van der Poel. As with VFL, Abrahamsen might come alive later, but Bittner, a sprinter wildcard pick, will probably not be worth it with the few sprint opportunities left.

CFA (actually one position lower currently): A very interesting team on account of holding Paul Seixas, young French talent at his first TCAT edition. Fieschă at the moment is hampered by their unclasseds and climbers not doing much so far - both are understandable, given climbers haven't had many chances and picking unclasseds is usually a lottery. I wouldn't read too much into Bauhaus scoring little so far - this edition was never going to be about costly sprinters scoring 2000 points - but the credits saved here really need to be worth it elsewhere. Final position will heavily depend on whether the expensive Seixas, an unique pick, can do even better than his current 6th place in GC, and whether at the very least Rubio and Paret-Peintre will get a few top tens in the mountains.

The unlucky ones

BDC (actually one position higher currently): Where to start. The only team going for both Pogacar and Vingegaard, which usually is a good call, but is extraordinarily expensive this time around, and would require everything else going right. Sadly hardly anything is, with Carapaz out of GC, Uijtdebroeks having to withdraw with an illness, and Kooij doing too little as already mentioned. None of their four 4 credit unclassed riders delivering any miracles so far either, which isn't really going to make the difference on its own anyway.

CJO: Features the other abandon so far, sprinter Arnaud de Lie - speaking of which, it's a miracle we haven't had more riders quit given the unbearable heat. In Cjovani's case, though, this has made them toothless in a week where 3/9 stages went to a bunch sprint. It didn't help of course that both Carapaz and Arensman are out of GC top 10 contention already. It's a team that had potential, but most riders haven't shown it yet, including for instance usually exciting stagehunter Ben Healy.

The heat is absurd... I saw a story on it and how everyone is basically swaddling themselves in ice when they're not competing.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on July 13, 2026, 10:43:57 AMThe heat is absurd... I saw a story on it and how everyone is basically swaddling themselves in ice when they're not competing.

Yeah it's wild. I get nauseous just thinking about having to physical exercise for more than 10 minutes at 40C, and these guys just do 150-200 km of cycling at high speed in those temperatures day after day. How do they even think about stagewins or classifications? I'd only be concerned with not actually dying...

Stage 9   »   Malemort  ›  Ussel

The stage was shortened yesterday because of the extreme heat. A short stage usually means a lot of activity however, and the hilly terrain favoured attackers, so everyone wanted to be the in the break, thinking an attack would likely be succesful. It would take a long time before a definite break was formed, eventually including Van der Poel (REX/VFL), T.H. Johannessen (GHS/VFL), Pidcock (REX/EVC), Baudin (GHS/CHX), and a couple others. Only these four reached the finish before the peloton, where some riders never quite gave up the fight and made it a close race until the very end. Van der Poel won the sprint, followed by Johannessen and Pidcock.

A much reduced peloton finished only 6 seconds behind the quartet with Pedersen (MMM/REX/EVC) finishing in 6th place overall. The only rider from the top 10 GC not to be present in the peloton and dropping out of contention for top 10 was Vacek.

It was a big score for Els Talossaes Rexhital, who take over the lead from the Menceis in the standing.

Standings after stage 9:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	4063	+777
2nd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	3784	+416
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3711	+583
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3683	+398
5th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3633	+681
6th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	3554	+505
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	2742	+160
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2504	+206
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2090	+170

Today is a much needed restday. Tomorrow, we will go into the Massif Central for a stage with a lot of vertical meters spread out over many climbs. A day for the more punchy climbers and gc guys, with Pogacar realistically being the big favourite.

Stage 10  »  Aurillac  ›  Le Lioran

A tough stage peppered with categorised climbs saw a large breakaway never being allowed to get too far, with Tadej Pogacar's (BDC/CFA/CHX/CJO/GHS/MMM) team deciding this too was a day for general classification riders to win (specifically, him). Perhaps surprisingly, upon the breakaway being caught, it was Richard Carapaz (BDC/CHX/CJO) who immediately attacked to try and go for a long shot win, but he too was reeled back in by the Slovenian en route to another stage win.

Second was Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL), in front of Seixas (CFA) and Lipowitz (CHX/GHS/REX), with Ayuso (EVC/REX), Skjelmose (MMM) and Vingegaard (BDC/EVC/VFL) completing the chasing group. Bad day for Del Toro (CHX/EVC/GHS/MMM/REX/VFL) then, who finished eighth but paid up to one minute to Evenepoel and the others, therefore slipping four places in GC. Rounding off the top 10, Pidcock (EVC/REX) finished 9th despite a crash while descending in the final stages, and erstwhile attacker Carapaz had to settle for 11th.

Fourth consecutive stagewin for REX, a feat only matched by Velocostă (during France 2025), GHST (Spain 2024) and Banqeu de Cézembre (Italy 2024). And the odds for a fifth and maybe sixth win in a row look great, as a sprint is assured today and likely tomorrow, REX being the only team that can count on effectively three sprinters.

Standings after stage 10:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	4825	+762
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	4461	+677
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	4382	+699
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4307	+596
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4137	+504
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4082	+528
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3261	+519
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3183	+679
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2669	+579

As mentioned, today sees the sprinters getting involved again. Very difficult to see REX not winning this one as well if Bittner, Pedersen and Godon all keep finishing in or near the top ten. If that doesn't happen, the non-Pedersen/Bittner teams might get a shot if their sprinter wins; Kooij (BDC/GHS) and Kanter (CHX) would seem the strongest candidates, but non-TCAT Merlier seems difficult to beat at the moment.

Stage 11   »   Vichy  ›  Nevers

Today was another bunchsprint, with a surprising winner: Søren Wærenskjold, who profited from a bold move when the peloton lost a bit of speed. Kooij (GHS/BDC) and Philipsen (VFL) came just short of beating him on the line. GHST scores the most points and takes over third place from Cyclohexane.

Standings after stage 11:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	5016	+191
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	4696	+235
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4602	+295
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	4530	+148
5th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4280	+198
6th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4256	+119
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3549	+288
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3297	+114
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2752	+83

Tomorrow looks like another bunchsprint, but some hills along the way may invite attackers to give it a try.

Stage 12  »  Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours  ›  Chalon-sur-Saône

Belated update; Thursday had another sprint that went to non-TCAT Tim Merlier for a third stage win. Olav Kooij (BDC/GHS) took second ahead of Jasper Philipsen (VFL), who was initially penalised and relegated, and later reinstated. GHST gets a third stagewin, the second in a row.

Standings after stage 12:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	5256	+252
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	4958	+272
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4937	+335
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	4763	+237
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4743	+321
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4481	+211
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3837	+290
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3407	+114
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2847	+95

Stage 13   »   Dole  ›  Belfort

Yesterdays stage included the category 1 climb Ballon d'Alsace, but the summit was 25 km before the finish, making this a perfect opportunity for a break. As a result nearly the entire peloton wanted to be in the break and many succeeded, including Philipsen who won the intsprint ahead of Pedersen and climbed to second place in the points classification before dropping back to the peloton. The strongest among the many attackers was Mauro Schmid, who beat one other rider in a sprint. More importantly for TCAT, Pidcock (REX/EVC) came in fourth, still far ahead of the GC contenders and shot to 4th place in GC as a result. No other TCAT rider made the top 20.

As a result it was a stage with for Els Talossaes Rexhital, closely followed by EVC.


Standings after stage 13:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	5585	+329
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	5142	+184
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5039	+102
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	4958	+195
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4860	+117
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4806	+325
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3935	+98
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3499	+92
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2929	+82

'

Today was* perhaps the toughest stage of this edition with 1 second category and 3 first category climbs, including the entirely new Col du Haag, which turned out to be quite an exciting one.

*Yeah it's already happened (spoiler). Sorry for the late stage 12 update

Stage 14  »  Mulhouse  ›  Le Markstein

A playbook we already saw quite a few times: a large breakaway forms, but the peloton carefully manages it, reels them in at the right time, and it's just a matter of waiting for Pogacar to attack and win. Specifically this time the attack featured Valentin Paret-Peintre (CHX/GHS) and Richard Carapaz (BDC/CHX/CJO), both hunting for summit points, with the Ecuadorian and Tobias Johannessen (GHS/VFL) being the last two to fall.

Another stagewin for Pogacar, then, in front of two trios: Del Toro outsprinting Seixas for second, with Vingegaard pretty much settling for fourth, and Evenepoel, Ayuso and Lipowitz a short distance behind. Former attackers Carapaz and Johannessen rounded out the top ten.

TCAT-wise, the stagewin goes to Cyclohexane, who gets their 20th all-time win (on par with VFL). Still no changes in the overall standings, though. In the general classification, the most notable development is Tom Pidcock (EVC/REX) falling five places to ninth.

Standings after stage 14:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	6254	+669
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	5889	+747
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5828	+789
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5814	+856
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	5539	+679
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	5407	+601
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4545	+610
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4196	+697
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3527	+598

Today, the final stage of week 2, with a medium mountain approach but a long final climb. Seems like another day for the GC favourites.

Full update later, but the big news is: Vingegaard crashed and abandoned the race! An EVC, VFL or BDC comeback is unthinkable now.

Standings after stage 15:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	7131	+877
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	6709	+820
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	6577	+763
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6495	+667
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6069	+530
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	5844	+437
7th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4966	+770
8th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4891	+346
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4160	+633

Oh my God! He's OUT?!? Wasn't he like the number two in the race?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on July 19, 2026, 04:44:31 PMOh my God! He's OUT?!? Wasn't he like the number two in the race?

Yeah, and it happened so fast. Literally slipped on his own in a right hander while he had four teammates pulling in front. A heartbreaking moment for sure.

Lightning quick restday 2 analysis: Els Talossaes Rexhitais seem like the far and away favourites at this point, especially with Vingegaard retiring, not necessarily for BDC/EVC/VFL being definitely out of the running, but rather because it will make all their GC riders skip up a place: REX now hold the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th highest ranked riders, in addition to Pidcock in 9th, which would bring an insurmountable amount of End of Tour points - and the 4th placed rider is CFA's Seixas at the moment, who is not held by any of REX's direct competitors.

By comparison, the Mençeis hold 1st, 3rd, 7th and 14th, Cyclohexane holds 1st, 3rd, 5th and 12th, and GHST holds 1st, 3rd, 5th and 18th. I think these three teams will contest the final podium positions, but the contest for second is between CHX and MMM, with GHST the underdog.

Today we resume with the only individual time trial, which unlike the one in Giro will not be pancake flat. The smell test says this goes to either REX, who once again looks like it has high chances with Evenepoel/Ayuso/Lipowitz, or Fieschă, who holds Evenepoel/Pogacar/Seixas. If Team Visma lets Vingegaard's former teammates loose, Affini (BDC/GHS) and Armirail  (CJO) could make their teams competitive, with Cjovani also holding Arensman to boot. Not many more time trial specialists among TCAT teams, to be fair, with good hilly-TT riders such as Vauquelin and McNulty left out of all rosters.

This is so tense!

Stage 16 (ITT)  »  Évian-les-Bains  ›  Thonon-les-Bains

Well, scratch most of what I said! Fuller update later but:

- Evenepoel wins ITT as predicted, over Pogacar and a surprisingly strong Skjelmose
- Cjovani gets stagewin due to Evenepoel, Pogacar, Arensman (7th) and Armirail (8th)
- Lipowitz crashed halfway through and broke his collarbone, much like Vingegaard just did on Sunday
- Lipowitz was the one rider held by REX, CHX and GHS but not by MMM: first impression is that this swings TCAT back open for sure (in the Mençeis's favour)
- If positive surprise is Skjelmose, negative surprise is Ayuso, who probably is out of contention for the final podium (Del Toro vs Seixas is gonna be the fight for 3rd now)


Standings after stage 16:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	7630	+499
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	7304	+595
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	6970	+393
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6876	+381
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6475	+406
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6123	+279
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5607	+641
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5131	+240
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4823	+663

Stage 17   »   Chambéry  ›  Voiron

Yesterday was a hilly stage that looked suited for attackers because a break would be hard to control. However forces in the peloton decided otherwise. A crash split in the peloton resulted in different groups racing each other leading to the original break being caught.

After that the stage was overshadowed by the fight for the green jersey and the points classification between Pedersen, who started the stage with a 31 point lead and because of his better climbing abilities is often able to pick up intermediate sprint points and Philipsen who is behind with very few point scoring opportunities remaining, but is the faster finisher of the two. Several attacking groups emerged, with Pedersen in the front group forcing other sprinters to try and make the jump as well in order to not miss out on a potential sprint finish. Pedersen and a few others did manage to get away and score the maximum amount of intsprint points while Philipsen was still in a group further behind.

Eventually however they did get caught by the large group including Philipsen (with the help of Van der Poel, who could have gone for his own chances today but chose to help Philipsen instead) and we did get a rather chaotic bunchsprints, which Philipsen did end up winning. Kooij (GHS/BDC) came in third and Askey (CJO) got fourth place, while Pedersen only finished 8th. The result: despite Pedersens hard work Philipsen reduced his deficit to only 7 points.

The fight for the green jersey (PC) is a lot closer than GC or KOM. However, Pedersen is still likely to win as there are barely any opportunities for Philipsen left to make up the difference which the remaining intsprints following tough climbs (which Pedersen is actually  trying to reach as we speak), which are too difficult for Philipsen to keep up on and the finish in Paris not necessarily one for the sprinters because it includes several ascents of Montmartre.

Not much changes in the TCAT standings except GHST overtakes Cyclohexane due to the Kooij result.

Standings after stage 17:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	7932	+302
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	7601	+297
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7155	+279
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	7123	+153
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6867	+392
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6315	+192
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5738	+131
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5371	+240
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5073	+250

Today is the first of three alpine mountain stages that will determine the GC, KOM and likely TCAT as well, including not one but two finishes on the legendary Alpe d'Huez on friday and saturday.

Niiiice, a stage win for the Posse!

Stage 18  »  Voiron  ›  Orcières-Merlette

We already got today's results! The first of three mountain stages goes to the breakaway, and specifically to Richard Carapaz (BDC/CHX/CJO), who battled for summit points with Valentin Paret-Peintre (CHX/GHS) for most of the stage, but unlike the Frenchman, who had to settle for fourth, he still had plenty of energy on the final climb to distance him and four other fellow attackers.

These included EVC's Matteo Jorgenson, ultimately third, and Tobias Halland Johannessen (GHS/VFL), who finished fifth. The GC contenders had to settle for eighth onwards, with Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL) 9th and Pidcock (REX/EVC) 10th being the other two top 10 TCAT riders. It was indeed Evenepoel's team who paced for much of the finish, unlike the usual Pogacar-UAE show; but it was not the day for Pogacar's team to attack, with teammate McNulty abandoning due to a potential illness, and other teammate Yates (MMM) struggling as well; rival Evenepoel will no doubt try to exploit these manpower issues in the next two stages.

TCAT-wise, the win goes to Cyclohexane, who retakes third place in the standings, ahead of Cjovani and GHST.

Standings after stage 18:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	8284	+352
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	7917	+316
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	7806	+683
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7657	+502
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	7191	+324
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6761	+446
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	6164	+426
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5767	+396
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5589	+516

Will I regret not nabbing Evenepoel and going top-two again?

Stage 19   »   Gap  ›  Alpe d'Huez

TCAT still very much undecided after first of two Alpe d'Huez stages with three/four teams fighting for the win tomorrow and possibly sunday.

Even though the climb to the Alpe d'Huez (which was filled to the brim with a massive crowd of spectactors) seemed destined to be yet another Pogacar victory we did get a fairly large break again. This included Pedersen (REX/MMM/EVC), who managed to score intsprint points for the second day in a row and now has basically secured the points classification after all. The group which remains in the attack at the foot of the Alpe d'Huez, which included among others Carapaz (CHX/BDC) (again), Johannessen (GHS/VFL), Arensman (CJO) and Yates (MMM) had about a 3,5 minute headstart on the group of favourites, which for a bit almost looked like it might be enough, even when Pogacar accelerated and left the other GC riders behind again. But in the end Pogacar again proved to be nearly unbeatable uphill and overtook the last two remaining from the break, including Carapaz, who finished third. Johannessen managed to get 5th place this time.

In the group of favourites Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL) was best of the rest and got 6th, followed by Del Toro, Skjelmose (MMM), who had a strong day and is looking like he might climb further in GC and Seixas (CFA). Along the way Carapaz scored enough points to get the polkadot jersey for the KOM classification. He will need to attack again tomorrow to have any chance of defending it against Pogacar. Ayuso (REX/EVC) has had a bad third week and dropped to 7th in GC

The result is the second stagewin in a row for Cyclohexane, bringing them very much back in the game. The Menceis however had a good day as well, and if we look at how many points the teams would score if the classifications remain the same:

Expected end-of-tour points for the top 4 teams:
MMM 2050
CHX 1760
REX 1680
GHS 1525

then the Menceis may well be the favourites to win this edition. However, unlike Italy this year, this edition is very very close. A third good day for Cyclohexane (Carapaz will almost certainly be in the attack again tomorrow considering the fight for the KOM jersey) could make the difference. Els Talossaes Rexhital are also still very much in the race to hang on to their current lead if Evenepoel, Pidcock and Ayuso do well tomorrow, and the final day could help them as well if Van der Poel wins in Paris as some expect him to. Of course the Menceis will be looking at Pedersen instead. GHST are a bit further behind, and while they could in theory still win (which would be a third victory in a row) its gonna require a lot of things to go very well both tomorrow and sunday.

Meanwhile BDC keeps bleeding points without Uijtdebroeks and Vingegaard and have now taken over the red lantern. There's also more bad news for them (and GHST) as Affini dropped out.

Standings after stage 19:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	8668	+384
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	8598	+681
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	8534	+728
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	8263	+606
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	7631	+440
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6997	+236
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	6726	+562
8th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	6309	+720
9th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	6288	+521

Tomorrow we get Alpe d'Huez again, but the approach will be different so most of the climbing happens way before that. However this time theyve also thrown in the formidable Col du Galibier in for good measure along with two more hors category climbs (!!). It's a monstrous stage with 5624 vertical meters that should provide enough opportunities for GC riders who are feeling strong to attempt to leave behind their competitors (except for Pogacar who is almost certainly going to win the GC tomorrow if nothing crazy happens)

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on July 24, 2026, 03:18:23 PMWill I regret not nabbing Evenepoel and going top-two again?

Well Evenepoel is looking like a pretty strong pick right now with already over 100 points per credit and more on the way if he keeps his second place today, so I think many of us are regretting not picking him.

However, he wasn't necessarily the obvious number two at the start. If you'd gone for a top two strategy you might have ended up with a crashed Vingegaard like me and that would have been a much bigger regret. Meanwhile, you have currently very good chances to win even without Evenepoel

Ayuso and Carapaz currently in the attack while Skjelmose is struggling to keep up. That could be bad news for the MMM and good news for REX/CHX.

Ayuso has dropped back to the group with Skjelmose a big blow to royal hopes. Maybe Van der Poel can do something tomorrow.

Cyclohexane still has Carapaz ahead, but will it be enough with the impact on GC likely limited?

Things are looking good for Menceis.

Stage 20  »  Le Bourg d'Oisans  ›  Alpe d'Huez

Couldn't watch as I was driving, so I'm just going to quickly copypaste the ProCyclingStats blurb:

A large breakaway formed on the opening climb while the peloton also maintained a relentless pace, quickly reducing the bunch. Pedersen was initially dropped but fought his way back and even managed to bridge to the break, securing enough points at the intermediate sprint to seal the green jersey. As the race wore on, only Kuss and Carapaz remained at the front. Kuss started the descent with a small advantage, but two crashes allowed Carapaz to pass him before the final uphill kilometres, take the stage victory and secure the mountains classification.

So Carapaz 1st, Evenepoel 2nd, Pogacar 4th, Del Toro 5th, Skjelmose 8th, Ayuso 9th, Seixas 10th, Johannessen 11st, Pidcock 16th. Stagewin goes to Cjovani for a second time, but Cyclohexane's second place is still enough to vault them to a (likely temporary) lead.

No changes in GC top 10, as Glüc hinted to, despite Ayuso's attempt at recovering some time. Johannessen did gain a place to 12th (which will be worth a meagre additional 12 points to GHS and VFL) but only because non-TCAT Van Wilder abandoned after a crash. Therefore, most of the end-of-tour analysis by Glüc should still be valid, but more on that later.

Standings after stage 20:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	9327	+793
2nd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	9257	+589
3rd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	9165	+567
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	8762	+499
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	8116	+485
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	7382	+385
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	7266	+540
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	7171	+862
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	6875	+587

Today, the TCAT decider has been shortened to make sure the race is contained in Paris, and that emergency responders can be free to (sadly) deal with the wildfires nearby. Much like last year & the Olympic road race of 2024, it's not going to be a traditional Champs-Elysees sprint but rather 5 "short" laps of the Champs-Elysees + 3 "long" laps that also include an ascent of the famous Montmartre hill. Very likely hunting ground for classics riders and punchy sprinters. More on what that means for TCAT, again, later.

Gaps after adding current End of Tour points* and daily classification points for stage 21 (GC/PC/KOM daily points, and GC/TC assists):

MMM 0, CHX -178, REX -346

As things stand, the Mençeis are in the virtual lead of TCAT, with the only things missing being the points from today's stage (stage finish, intermediate sprint, breakaway points, stage finish assists, and maybe minor changes in the points classification).

Whether they actually do win TCAT or not depends on the stage outcome.

• Pretty sure the #1 candidate for the stage win is REX's Mathieu van der Poel, who last year had to watch this same stage from TV and no doubt has been waiting for this day for the last three weeks.
• However, the other two teams have Tadej Pogacar, who won't pass up any opportunity at having fun and placed fourth last year (last among a three-man sprint for second), which might limit REX's point gain to 100 at most.
• REX and MMM have Mads Pedersen, who also looks good on this type of parcours and may want to celebrate winning the points classification with a win.
• However, CHX has his teammate Mathias Vacek, who could perhaps be allowed to race for the win as a reward for helping Pedersen all Tour.
• REX has other legitimate top10 candidates too: Tom Pidcock and Dorian Godon could do well on this kind of parcours. And if it comes to a bunchsprint, however unlikely, they still are the one team with three sprinters (Pedersen, Godon and Bittner).

CHX and MMM don't seem to hold many other potential stage finish scorers, so most likely REX is the one who's going to score the most stage points. Whether they outscore the Mençeis by 346 is a different question; they'd need a MVDP win, and then (depending on what Pogacar does) 126 to 226 more points from Pidcock and Godon.

So that's REX's path to winning TCAT. As for CHX's path, Pogacar's result is going to be irrelevant because MMM also holds him, so they will really be rooting for Vacek to be given the nod instead of Pedersen. But even Vacek getting third and Pedersen not featuring at all would not be enough to overtake the Mençeis (and MMM can get triple Vacek assists by holding Skjelmose, Pedersen and Verona!), so either he does really well, or someone else comes in to help (Wellens, if he's not sick anymore? Baudin, for the sake of a French win in Paris? Kanter scoring maximum points at the intermediate sprint?). This all seems very unlikely.

TLDR: MMM advantage, REX with a chance if MVDP/Pidcock/Godon do very well, CHX almost hopeless.

*: EoT points per team were calculated by Glüc after stage 19, but the changes after stage 20 are minor

Well that was a spectacular finish!

Stage 21 (Final)   »   Paris  ›  Paris

The introduction of climbing Montmartre last year has made the final stage even more exciting. The winner of the tour may have already been decided, but winning the final stage is a massive achievement in its own right. The stage seemed almost designed for Mathieu van der Poel (REX/VFL), but it is a careful balance as a longer climb might favour stronger climbers while a longer stretch the finish might allow the peloton to back and result in a bunch sprints, so the stage promised a battle between climbers, puncheurs and sprinters. And we very much got what was promised.

On the second climb of Montmartre Pogacar (CFA/CJO/BDC/GHS/MMM/CHX) attacked with only Van der Poel being able to follow immediately. Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL) and Pedersen (REX/VFL/MMM) managed to close the gap resulting in a group of four. However the gap was small and the peloton, led by teammates of Kooij (GHS/BDC) chased the quartet down resulting in a reduced peloton with all the favourites starting the third ascent. This time it was Van der Poel who attacked with only Pogacar being able to follow. A chase group formed but was quickly swallowed by the peloton again led by teammates of Kooij, but this time also including Pedersen who also had hopes for the sprint. Van der Poel and Pogacar had a gap of less than 20 seconds and the finish was still far away, so there was no time for hesitation with a peloton steaming ahead behind them. Pogacar never hid behind Van der Poel but was not able to keep up and got dropped in the final stretch. With the finish in sight Van der Poel was only meters ahead of the peloton, already in full sprint. The sprint was won by Van der Poels teammate Philipsen (VFL), but at the finish Philipsen was not cheering for himself, but for Van der Poel, who had held on and finished just barely ahead, winning the stage.

Philipsen got second place ahead of Pedersen in third, Kanter (CHX) in fourth, and Kooij in fifth. Els Talossaes Rexhital won the stage due to Van der Poels efforts and climb to first place before end of tour points are considered. But will it be enough???

Standings after stage 21 (NOT including end of tour points!!!):
These are not the final standings

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	9779	+522
2nd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	9605	+278
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	9537	+372
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	9014	+252
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	8637	+521
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	7650	+268
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	7365	+99
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	7285	+114
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	7085	+210

The final points are awarded based on the standings of the riders in classifications. Most points are awarded based on the general classification (yellow jersey), which was of course won by Pogacar, followed by Evenepoel and Del Toro. Then there are points based two side classification: the points classification (green jersey) won by Pedersen, and King of the Mountains classification (polkadot jersey) won by Carapaz. Finally there are assist points based on the team classification. The latter of these is particularly favourable for the Menceis, who picked only riders from the two strongest teams. A very succesful strategy as it turns out and the second time this strategy has lead to a winning result (after Spain 2023).

FINAL STANDINGS:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	11557	+2020
2nd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	11454	+1675
3rd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	11395	+1790
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	10534	+1520
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	9932	+1295
6th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	9185	+1820
7th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	9015	+1730
8th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	8755	+1105
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	8265	+210

Congratulations to the Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis for winning leg 2 of the 2026 TCAT season!!!

I'm sure there will be more statistics posted, but one very notable thing is this was both a very close and a very high scoring edition (despite several expensive dropouts) with the top 4 teams posting the 2nd to 5th all time highest scores.

We've never had more than two teams above 10K and only 1 team ever scoring more than 11K and now suddenly we have three teams above 11K and a high scoring 10K team as well.

Quote from: Glüc on July 26, 2026, 04:29:36 PM
Congratulations to the Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis for winning leg 2 of the 2026 TCAT season!!!

Oh my goodness... I've always loved participating in this amazing Talossan tradition, but this is such a special moment.

We need to get the team together for a group photo!  Wait, why's that president in the photo?  Someone get him out of here.  Gianni, get over here and... oh, well.

Thank you to the TCAT team for another amazing race!

Congratulations AD! Nice to see a very close finale between three fundamentally different teams (only two riders shared by each pair of podium finishers).

This is the third-tightest winning margin as well - only bigger than Spain 2025 (98) and Italy 2023 (102). And as Glüc was saying, it's notable how the winning scores were so high. Last year's TCAT France had a similar winning margin but the top 4 teams had scores between 9449 and 9181 and the winner was outside the top 10K in Velogames (out of 30K); this time the top 3 are all above 11K points and comfortably inside the top 2K teams overall (out of 28K).

A few tables to round off this edition:

SEASON STANDINGS

(± ignores non-returning teams)

Pos	±		Team	Pts
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	20982
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	19113
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	18918
4th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	18668
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	17083
6th	(-4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	16883
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	14186

ALL-TIME STAGE WINNERS

Big leap by REX, who are one stage away from being just the sixth team to complete a season with 10 or more wins. Alas, their seven wins weren't enough to win the edition.

Winning 7 stages (1 in 3) but not the whole edition sounds pretty unlikely, but it's happened very often: also in TCAT Italy 2025 (to GHST), Spain 2023 (to the Cabana Boys), France 2023 (to MMM/Gagnheirs) and Italy 2023 (to BDC); all teams with 7 wins and no title. In addition, Spain 2025 also did not go to the team who won the most stages (DED, 5) and in Spain 2022 then-Gagnheirs won the same number of stages as the leg winner GHST (5). BDC in France 2022 won even more stages (10) without winning the leg, but there were so few teams that it was very likely to happen anyway.

Conversely, the Mençeis won the edition but only won two stages - the only team to win with fewer was Velocostă in the injury-affected TCAT Italy 2025 (just 1 win). The Mençeis are also only the second winner to be in the lead after the first stage (also happened to GHST in Spain 2022).

	Team	Stage Wins	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Banqeu da Cézembre (BDC)	53	11	15	20	5	2
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	46	6	5	11	13	11
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	22	-	8	2	5	7
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	21	3	4	4	6	4
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Mençeis/Gagnheirs (MMM)	19	5	11	-	-	3
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	17	-	3	9	5	-
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	17	12	2	0	1	2
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschă (CFA)	16	-	2	9	5	0
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Rexhitais/Cantzelerïă (REX)	15	-	1	1	4	9
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	13	-	7	3	3	-
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dead Last (DED)	12	-	3	4	5	-
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	11	-	-	-	10	1
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic Racing (KIN)	4	3	0	-	1	-
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Team In The Wind (KIN)	3	-	-	-	-	3
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	els Averatxeirs (ATX)	2	-	2	-	0	-
(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Valcürïăs (VAL)	2	2	0	-	-	-

Two teams, Ardita and Manilows, took part in at least a TCAT leg but did not win a stage.

@Sir Lüc and @Glüc

Well done on another TCAT leg. Do you know when the third leg of Season 5 will be?

The next leg will mirror the 2026 Vuelta a España; registrations will likely open 17-19 August.

I would like to join the Talossan Cycling Association (TCA) how do I join?

name: Aryan Vaidya
age: 18

Quote from: Aryan Vaidya on August 11, 2026, 04:14:19 PMI would like to join the Talossan Cycling Association (TCA) how do I join?

name: Aryan Vaidya
age: 18

Not entirely sure, I think stating your desire to be a TCA member is probably enough to make you one. I think @þerxh Sant-Enogat created a strava group at some point. If that still exists you could probably ask him to join.

The main TCA activity now is the fantasy cycling contest called TCAT (Talossan Cycling Association Tour. Registrations for the next edition have just opened. If you want to participate you can have a look here: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=5453.0