During stage 6 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes on Thursday, August 6, a breakaway trio consisting of Katrine Aalerud, Loes Adegeest, and Nikola Nosková established a lead on the route from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhône, while race leaders contended with significant climbing challenges.
The sixth stage of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes unfolded across a demanding semi-mountain stage stretching from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhône on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Breakaway Formation on the Road to Tournon-sur-Rhône
EF-Oatly and Fenix-Premier Tech Pace the Peloton
As EF-Oatly and Fenix-Premier Tech controlled the pace at the front of the peloton, a three-rider breakaway broke clear after earlier climbs. The group featured Loes Adegeest, Nikola Nosková, and Katrine Aalerud, who built a workable advantage over the main field as the route reached its halfway point in terms of vertical meters.
Adegeest, Nosková, and Aalerud worked well together and saw their advantage grow to 2 minutes and 10 seconds with 94 kilometers remaining. The trio upfront already held a margin of 1 minute and 40 seconds over the peloton earlier as they approached the intermediate sprint. At the intermediate sprint in Flaminges, Aalerud struck gold to take the top prize, while behind the three-rider break, Rüegg won the sprint. The top five at the intermediate sprint consisted of Aalerud with 25 points, Adegeest with 20 points, Nosková with 17 points, Noemi Rüegg in fourth with 15 points (placing her third in the standings with 77 points), and Lorena Wiebes in fifth with 13 points (retaining first place in the classification with 144 points).
Nikola Nosková Pursues Mountain Points Behind Leader Puck Pieterse
For Nosková, the move into the breakaway came alongside her continued pursuit of mountain points. Nosková added 2 more mountain points on top of the Côte de Praneuf (classified as 4th category), which narrowed her gap behind leader Puck Pieterse down to 18 points. Even with maximum points available, she remained at least 10 points behind mountain queen Pieterse.
Climbing Battles and Mountain Points Pressure
Puck Pieterse aimed to secure stage victory as her best opportunity in the Tour while also collecting mountain points, though she acknowledged that it might be that the breakaway would make it far today. EF-Oatly opened up a tight pace at the front of the peloton, stretching the group into a long single file at 1’20” behind the breakaway, with Noemi Rüegg and Cédrine Kerbaol standing out as key contenders for the day.
Riders Look Ahead to Friday’s Ventoux Stage
Meanwhile, riders looked ahead to Friday’s Ventoux stage, though they had to process 6 climbs during the 6th stage from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhône.
SD Worx-Protime Sports Manager Danny Stam Notes Anna van der Breggen’s Difficulties
Not all pre-race favorites experienced smooth progress through the heuveletappe. Anna van der Breggen faced difficulties early on, running into trouble early in the heavy hill stage. The signs had already appeared during the opening stages of the Tour de France Femmes and the individual time trial, where SD Worx-Protime sports manager Danny Stam noted that Anna had already had a couple of days complaining about not having a good feeling, and that the time trial was really hard, adding that you cannot hide and just need to do it on your own. Van der Breggen’s struggles were evident early as she passed the intermediate time check at 16:08 in 12th place before finishing with a time of 28:39 in 14th place, a sharp contrast to her Giro d’Italia time trial victory in June where she carved out a gap of over a minute over world champion Marlen Reusser of Movistar.
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