Green jersey standings & favourites — Tour de France 2026

The standings after stage 4: Pedersen in green

The points classification has already changed shoulders three times in four days. Egan Bernal wore green for a day after the team time trial (fastest through the first checkpoint), Isaac del Toro took it over with his stage win in Barcelona, and since Tuesday it belongs to Mads Pedersen. The Dane won from the monster breakaway in Foix and scooped the full haul in one go — exactly the kind of day that builds a green jersey on this route.

And today is when it gets properly interesting: stage 5 from Lannemezan to Pau is the first genuine bunch sprint of this Tour. Philipsen, Merlier, Milan and Girmay finally get their chance — and Pedersen can either extend his lead straight away or watch it evaporate.

Few chances, so every sprint counts

The 2026 route is no sprinters' paradise: only six stages are genuinely flat, with the finishes in Pau, Bordeaux, Bergerac, Nevers, Chalon-sur-Saône and Voiron the best opportunities. Anyone chasing green cannot afford a single failed sprint and will need to hoover up points at the intermediate sprints on the hilly days too.

The contenders

Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier turn every bunch sprint into a Belgian affair, while Jonathan Milan arrives to defend his points classification crown. Behind them lurk Biniam Girmay, who showed in 2024 how clever point-gathering wins green, and fast men like Dylan Groenewegen and Arnaud De Lie.

Montmartre as the finale

The final stage into Paris once again crosses the Montmartre cobbles, so a classic Champs-Élysées sprint is far from guaranteed. A sprinter who wants to score in Paris has to survive the climbs — or hope the peloton reels in the breakaway.

One thing is certain: with so few opportunities, every sprint day in this Tour is a final in itself. Miss one and the green jersey may already be gone.