Tadej Pogačar is back in his familiar summer attire, the Tour de France’s yellow jersey, after surging to victory in Les Angles on Monday afternoon. He is now level on time with previous leader Jonas Vingegaard, but ahead on superior stage placings.Only four riders in the history of the Tour — Mark Cavendish, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and André Leducq — have won more individual stages than the 27-year-old world champion.On scorching hot Catalonian and Pyrenean roads, the day’s break took almost 60 kilometres to establish itself, with Netcompany INEOS’ Egan Bernal particularly unlucky to puncture just as the group got separation from the peloton. Several riders — including Visma Lease a Bike’s Bruno Armirail — went down in crashes. The doctor’s car is never a quiet place in the first few days of a Tour de France.The best-placed escapee was EF Education Easypost’s Alex Baudin, just one minute and seven seconds behind yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard at the start of the day. And it was Baudin who did much of the work to keep the front group’s advantage intact, with the peloton, marshalled by UAE Team Emirates XRG, unwilling to let them get more than a couple of minutes ahead.The biggest climb of the day was the category one Col de Toses and Baudin led over the top, with Nicolas Prodhomme, Raúl García Pierna, Vlad Van Mechelen, Mattéo Vercher and George Bennett behind him. Baudin was clearly the strongest of the sextet, and was the final rider to be reeled in by the peloton with 11km to go.That left the favorites to battle it out on the climb up to Les Angles and as the road got steeper, stage two winner Isaac Del Toro gave his team leader a deluxe lead-out, and when Pogačar launched with 200 metres to go, no-one could match his pace. Vingegaard was the best of the rest, while Richard Carapaz got an impressive third place on an attritional day.Jacob Whitehead and Chris Waugh break down the key storylines from the day.It was another baking hot day on the 2026 Tour (Loic VENANCE / AFP via Getty Images)Another history-making stage win for PogacarTadej Pogačar’s aura only grows. There is a growing sense of inevitability about him winning stages and about him wearing the yellow jersey.Having essentially ceded stage two to his young team-mate Isaac Del Toro, Pogačar turned the previous day’s second place into first.The Mexican provided a brilliant lead out for his team leader. Although Visma-Lease a Bike were on the front with 3km to go and appeared well positioned, UAE Team Emirates XRG had a four-strong contingent visible and just behind their rivals for the final drag race to the line.Pogačar distances his rivals in the closing metres (Loic VENANCE / AFP via Getty Images)As they entered the climb to the finish, up to Les Angles, which is 1.7km long at an average 6.7 per cent gradient, UAE took control.Del Toro powered into the final kilometre at the front of the peloton, with Pogačar behind him, followed by Vingegaard, Paul Sexias and Remco Evenepoel.Del Toro’s monstrous pace was so high that nobody could attack, even if Richard Carapaz tried to move up the train. Pogačar sat on Del Toro’s wheel until the final 200m, when he peeled off and launched his sprint. Vingegaard tried to respond, but just did not appear to have the legs to stay with Pogačar. The Dane did kick again, but only once the Slovenian had surged away to claim his 22nd Tour stage win, placing him joint-fifth in the all-time list.Having gapped Vingegaard and with the bonus seconds on the line, Pogačar drew level on time with Vingegaard, but has claimed the yellow jersey for the first time in 2026 on stage placings from the first three days of action.