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He finished tenth a year ago, and there’s a good chance that Jordan Jegat will move up one more spot in the Tour de France standings in 2026. The 27-year-old Frenchman from TotalEnergies broke into the top ten a year ago with an aggressive final week. And he looks set to repeat that feat. In Stage 17, the climber made up nearly 9 minutes.
Leading up to this Tour de France, a repeat of past events seemed a long way off. Riders who were already in the process of leaving the currently struggling TotalEnergies team could forget about making the cut for the Tour de France. Jegat was not among them and kept the massive interest in him at arm’s length.
As a result, Jegat was among the eight riders selected for the Tour, with a stage win as the main goal. The Frenchman emphasized that he would give up everything for a single day of victory, but with the big teams leading the pack in the Tour, it soon became clear that a stage win for TotalEnergies was going to be a very difficult prospect. And so Jegat went from stage hunter to a quiet general classification contender, just like last year.
A year ago, the climber was consistently near the top ten, and as the third week began, he went on the attack—three times in total. This earned him two top-ten finishes in the daily results of the mountain stages, but above all, he rode into Paris in tenth place in the overall standings, ahead of riders such as Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Thymen Arensman (INEOS).
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Jegat gains nearly 9 minutes in the Tour de France
Jegat, who earlier in this Tour de France had criticized breakaway riders for not riding hard enough to win, thus changed his tune. He finished the second week in tenth place in the general classification, and although he didn’t have the best time trial in Stage 16, a day in the breakaway during Stage 17 earned him a significant time gain. Jegat crossed the finish line 8 minutes and 46 seconds ahead of the other general classification contenders.
This moved him up from tenth to ninth in the general classification, a good 14 minutes behind the yellow jersey. But his lead over tenth-place Yannis Voisard (Tudor)—10 minutes—is particularly substantial. “I’m firmly in the top ten,” he said after a successful day. “I used up some energy, but it was worth it. We’ll see what the other guys around me in the standings do.”
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) is in eighth place, a full minute ahead of Jegat. The Frenchman is thus firmly on track for a strong final standing in Paris. “I wanted to take it as easy as possible today, but I felt good, and when the pace picked up, I sensed that there were riders who could stay with the breakaway—riders who could jeopardize my chances for next weekend. That’s why I went for it.”
