Cycling race predictor · Tour de France 2026

Stage 14 — 2026-07-18

The same production stack priced under 4 course readings, against the bookmaker's pre-stage line. Each scenario is one opinion about what kind of day this is; the results section settles the argument.

4 scenarios 171 riders priced models retrained 2026-06-28 book snapshot markets_1451.json

The fork

4 readings of the same road

Course profile is an input the model can't see from a map — it's set from reference races (or overridden by hand). Different readings redistribute the same probability mass across rider types.

GC mountain

GC mountain day — the favourites race the Vosges and it selects
sprint0.00
mountain0.54
hilly0.00
rolling0.45
break0.01
TT0.00
The base case and the book's. Stage 14 is a compact, savage Vosges day — 155.3 km and ~3,800 m from Mulhouse over the Grand Ballon (21.5 km at ~5%, the last 6 km at 8%), the Col du Page and the Ballon d'Alsace, into the decisive Col du Haag: 11.2 km at 7.3% with ramps near 10%, cresting about 6 km from Le Markstein. It is NOT a summit finish — a short flat plateau runs to the line — but it is hard enough that the likeliest story is UAE forcing the Haag full-gas and the GC men settling it, Pogacar taking time as he has all Tour. The standing high-mountain archetype won by the two favourites: Pogacar TdF'24 s19 and s14, Vingegaard Dauphine'23 s7, Pogacar TdF'23 s6, Vingegaard Vuelta'25 s20; avg mountain ~0.55. The book agrees emphatically at the top — Pogacar 1.55 (40.4% devigged), the shortest stage price of the Tour — with del Toro and Vingegaard the next GC names. Model semantics: this is the mountain-dominant read where the pure climbers gain and anyone who needs a group to survive fades; on a non-summit finish it is the ceiling on how much the favourites take out of each other, and the check on the book's heavy second lean toward a break.
Top 5 (blend): Pogacar Tadej 39.1%; Evenepoel Remco 12.0%; Vingegaard Jonas 10.4%; Lipowitz Florian 6.7%; Seixas Paul 6.6%

Reduced group

Reduced group to Le Markstein — it regroups for a plateau kick
sprint0.00
mountain0.45
hilly0.00
rolling0.54
break0.00
TT0.00
The softer reading of a hard day. Because the Col du Haag tops out ~6 km from the line and a flat plateau — not a mountaintop — runs into Le Markstein, the day can knit back to a reduced front group that a punchier rider kicks home rather than a Pogacar solo. The archetype is the hard mountain stage decided by the front GC group over a descent or plateau run-in: Rodriguez at Morzine (TdF'23 s14, hard climbs then a drop to the line), Vingegaard at Le Lioran (TdF'24 s11), Pogacar TdF'24 s15, Adam Yates Suisse'24 s5, Simon Yates TdF'25 s10; avg rolling ~0.55 / mountain ~0.45. Model semantics matter: rolling-weighted against the pure-mountain read, this is NOT a sprinters' day (they are long gone on the Grand Ballon) — it promotes the strong all-rounders and puncheur-climbers who survive the Haag and win a small-group kick, the Pidcock / Vauquelin / Skjelmose / Onley profile, over the pure climbers who need the road to keep pointing up. Nothing excluded: this is the 'break gets caught, favourites regroup' board.
Top 5 (blend): Pogacar Tadej 35.6%; Evenepoel Remco 12.1%; Seixas Paul 8.0%; Vingegaard Jonas 7.8%; del Toro Isaac 7.0%

Break survives

The mountain break survives — an escape holds the Haag to Le Markstein
sprint0.00
mountain0.54
hilly0.00
rolling0.45
break0.01
TT0.00
The day's live break story, and the book's clear second lean. On a non-summit mountain finish with the GC men marking each other for seconds, a strong break over the Grand Ballon can be given room and hold the plateau into Le Markstein — exactly what happened yesterday at Belfort, and the reason the book makes Richard Carapaz its 12.5% second favourite behind only Pogacar, with Paret-Peintre, Romo, Baudin and Tejada all shortened as break threats. References are real high-mountain wins from the escape by climbers: Paret-Peintre Giro'24 s10, Steinhauser Giro'24 s17, Arensman TdF'25 s19, Carapaz Vuelta'22 s20, Buitrago Giro'23 s19; avg mountain ~0.55. The model prices rider-course fit, not who gets up the road, so its raw board still tops out with the GC captains who best fit the terrain — the value is the pool table below, which strips the top 10 on ACTUAL GC after stage 13 (the cliff is the 3:52 between Lenny Martinez in 10th at +6:34 and Jegat in 11th at +10:26) and renormalizes the rest into 'if the break wins' odds. Everyone outside that ten — Carapaz, Arensman, Bernal, Johannessen, Healy, Paret-Peintre — rides with freedom, and after stage 13 the peloton has just shown it will grant exactly this kind of escape seven minutes.
Top 5 if the break wins (top 10 on GC removed): Hindley Jai 6.2%; Carapaz Richard 6.2%; Gee Derek 6.0%; Johannessen Tobias Halland 5.2%; Arensman Thymen 5.1%

Hindsight (post-hoc)

Hindsight — the day as it actually finished
sprint0.00
mountain0.45
hilly0.00
rolling0.54
break0.01
TT0.00
Post-race reconstruction, not a prediction — never logged. Built by matching stage 14's actual finish curve (1 solo winner, 7 riders within 60s, 11 within 2 minutes, 22 within 10 minutes) against every WorldTour stage since 2021, then keeping only the curve-nearest days that a GC captain actually won: Vingegaard on the Tourmalet (Vuelta'23 s13), Almeida at Suisse'25 s4, Pogacar at Isola 2000 (TdF'24 s19), Caruso at Alpe Motta (Giro'21 s20) and Roglic at the Angliru approach (Vuelta'23 s17). Average mountain ~0.45 / rolling ~0.55 — notably LESS mountain-weighted than the pre-race GC-mountain read (~0.55 mountain), because the Col du Haag cresting 6 km out and the plateau run-in to Le Markstein put this day's finish structure closer to a hard selective stage than to a summit finish. The question this answers: with perfect knowledge of the day's shape, how much better could the model have priced Pogacar?
Top 5 (blend): Pogacar Tadej 36.9%; Evenepoel Remco 11.7%; Seixas Paul 9.7%; Vingegaard Jonas 9.1%; del Toro Isaac 8.6%

The board

Win probabilities, scenario by scenario

Blend win probability per scenario (cascade × LambdaRank, DNF-adjusted at the pricing layer), next to the devigged Kambi (Unibet) win line captured the morning before the stage. "Max edge" compares the most favourable scenario against the book — treat it as scenario-conditional, not a free bet.

Read "Max edge" as directional, not as a price. The blend is a set of per-rider marginals and does not sum to one book — across this field each reading totals GC mountain 114%, Reduced group 117%, Hindsight (post-hoc) 129% — while the devigged book column sums to exactly 100%. Putting the two side by side flatters the model, and Max edge is inflated by about that factor: divide a rider's probability by his reading's total before calling anything an edge. Of our heads only the LambdaRank one is natively book-preserving.

RiderTeamGC mountainReduced groupBreak survivesHindsight (post-hoc)Book oddsBook devigMax edge
Pogacar TadejUAE Team Emirates-XRG39.1%35.6%–36.9%1.5540.4%-1.3pp
Evenepoel RemcoRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe12.0%12.1%–11.7%34.001.8%+10.2pp
Vingegaard JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike10.4%7.8%–9.1%21.003.0%+7.4pp
Seixas PaulDecathlon CMA CGM Team6.6%8.0%–9.7%41.001.5%+8.2pp
del Toro IsaacUAE Team Emirates-XRG5.7%7.0%–8.6%15.004.2%+4.4pp
Lipowitz FlorianRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe6.7%6.5%–7.1%67.000.9%+6.1pp
Ayuso JuanLidl-Trek2.2%2.2%–2.6%151.000.4%+2.2pp
Arensman ThymenNetcompany INEOS1.6%2.2%5.1%2.6%41.001.5%+1.0pp
Martinez LennyBahrain Victorious2.2%2.0%–2.5%101.000.6%+1.8pp
Hindley JaiRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe1.6%1.6%6.2%1.9%126.000.5%+1.4pp
Carapaz RichardEF Education-EasyPost1.5%1.7%6.2%1.9%5.0012.5%-10.6pp
Yates AdamUAE Team Emirates-XRG1.3%1.7%4.6%0.7%101.000.6%+1.0pp
Johannessen Tobias HallandUno-X Mobility1.4%1.5%5.2%1.6%17.003.7%-2.1pp
Pidcock TomPinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team1.1%1.1%–1.6%51.001.2%+0.3pp
Skjelmose MattiasLidl-Trek1.0%1.2%–1.4%101.000.6%+0.8pp
Jorgenson MatteoTeam Visma | Lease a Bike1.2%1.4%4.0%1.4%251.000.2%+1.2pp
Gee DerekLidl-Trek1.4%1.2%6.0%1.3%151.000.4%+0.9pp
Riccitello MatthewDecathlon CMA CGM Team1.2%1.1%4.6%1.3%151.000.4%+0.9pp
Van Wilder IlanSoudal Quick-Step0.8%1.0%2.8%1.2%151.000.4%+0.8pp
Vauquelin KévinNetcompany INEOS0.7%0.9%2.3%1.1%151.000.4%+0.7pp
Grégoire RomainGroupama-FDJ United0.7%0.8%2.4%1.0%601.000.1%+0.9pp
Paret-Peintre ValentinSoudal Quick-Step0.3%0.3%1.0%0.3%23.002.7%-2.4pp
Break survives is shown conditional on the break winning — the top 10 riders on actual GC are removed and the remaining probabilities renormalize within the break pool. That column isn't comparable with the book line or the other readings, so it's left out of Max edge; a "–" means a GC captain we assume won't be up the road.
GC mountain day — the favourites race the Vosges and it selects — top 30, all heads
#RiderBlendCascade LambdaRankPodiumTop 15 Book odds
1Pogacar Tadej39.1%44.5%32.8%72.0%88.9%1.55
2Evenepoel Remco12.0%8.7%11.3%25.5%68.4%34.00
3Vingegaard Jonas10.4%8.6%9.5%40.8%85.6%21.00
4Lipowitz Florian6.7%3.9%6.6%16.2%70.8%67.00
5Seixas Paul6.6%6.3%5.9%13.3%62.8%41.00
6del Toro Isaac5.7%2.2%5.8%12.2%58.3%15.00
7Ayuso Juan2.2%1.4%2.1%7.1%51.0%151.00
8Martinez Lenny2.2%2.4%1.8%6.4%43.1%101.00
9Arensman Thymen1.6%1.7%1.4%6.9%29.7%41.00
10Hindley Jai1.6%1.4%1.4%5.8%39.1%126.00
11Carapaz Richard1.5%1.4%1.3%5.2%39.6%5.00
12Johannessen Tobias Halland1.4%0.7%1.4%16.8%50.9%17.00
13Gee Derek1.4%1.2%1.2%4.1%24.9%151.00
14Yates Adam1.3%1.0%1.2%4.2%29.0%101.00
15Riccitello Matthew1.2%1.1%1.1%4.1%28.9%151.00
16Jorgenson Matteo1.2%2.0%0.8%7.5%20.1%251.00
17Pidcock Tom1.1%0.5%1.1%11.8%64.4%51.00
18Skjelmose Mattias1.0%1.7%0.7%7.5%55.3%101.00
19Kuss Sepp0.8%0.7%0.7%4.0%27.3%126.00
20Bernal Egan0.8%0.5%0.7%3.8%39.5%51.00
21Van Wilder Ilan0.8%1.4%0.5%3.9%35.3%151.00
22Vauquelin Kévin0.7%0.6%0.7%4.7%19.4%151.00
23Piganzoli Davide0.7%0.6%0.7%4.7%46.0%126.00
24Grégoire Romain0.7%0.7%0.6%6.2%25.7%601.00
25Higuita Sergio0.5%0.5%0.5%2.5%16.8%201.00
26Healy Ben0.5%1.4%0.2%3.0%8.8%81.00
27McNulty Brandon0.5%0.6%0.4%2.3%22.0%101.00
28Jegat Jordan0.5%0.5%0.4%6.6%46.1%126.00
29O'Connor Ben0.5%0.5%0.4%2.4%23.7%126.00
30Castrillo Pablo0.4%0.7%0.3%3.5%22.5%81.00
Reduced group to Le Markstein — it regroups for a plateau kick — top 30, all heads
#RiderBlendCascade LambdaRankPodiumTop 15 Book odds
1Pogacar Tadej35.6%47.9%27.5%70.0%85.5%1.55
2Evenepoel Remco12.1%8.7%11.2%22.2%55.5%34.00
3Seixas Paul8.0%6.5%7.2%13.9%57.2%41.00
4Vingegaard Jonas7.8%4.9%7.4%25.0%74.1%21.00
5del Toro Isaac7.0%2.3%7.1%11.2%50.9%15.00
6Lipowitz Florian6.5%2.6%6.6%13.2%61.7%67.00
7Arensman Thymen2.2%2.2%1.9%8.7%28.9%41.00
8Ayuso Juan2.2%1.1%2.1%5.5%37.6%151.00
9Martinez Lenny2.0%1.5%1.8%4.1%31.3%101.00
10Carapaz Richard1.7%1.5%1.5%6.0%34.0%5.00
11Yates Adam1.7%0.8%1.6%3.2%21.2%101.00
12Hindley Jai1.6%1.3%1.5%4.6%27.6%126.00
13Johannessen Tobias Halland1.5%0.6%1.6%11.7%43.7%17.00
14Jorgenson Matteo1.4%2.0%1.1%6.8%19.7%251.00
15Skjelmose Mattias1.2%1.9%0.9%6.4%40.8%101.00
16Gee Derek1.2%0.9%1.1%3.3%18.6%151.00
17Riccitello Matthew1.1%0.9%1.0%3.6%25.3%151.00
18Pidcock Tom1.1%0.6%1.1%7.5%54.7%51.00
19Van Wilder Ilan1.0%1.1%0.9%3.1%33.1%151.00
20Kuss Sepp0.9%0.7%0.9%4.1%19.9%126.00
21Vauquelin Kévin0.9%0.6%0.8%3.9%20.7%151.00
22Grégoire Romain0.8%1.2%0.6%6.6%28.7%601.00
23Piganzoli Davide0.8%0.4%0.8%4.8%41.1%126.00
24Bernal Egan0.7%0.5%0.7%3.5%30.1%51.00
25Aranburu Alex0.7%1.8%0.3%2.7%10.6%1501.00
26Tejada Harold0.7%1.9%0.3%3.0%14.0%67.00
27Higuita Sergio0.6%0.6%0.6%2.6%20.9%201.00
28McNulty Brandon0.6%0.4%0.6%2.3%23.1%101.00
29Izagirre Ion0.6%0.2%0.6%2.5%18.2%201.00
30Jegat Jordan0.6%0.6%0.5%5.9%36.7%126.00
The mountain break survives — an escape holds the Haag to Le Markstein — top 30, all heads · top 10 on GC removed
#RiderBlendCascade LambdaRankPodiumTop 15 Book odds
1Hindley Jai1.8%1.7%1.5%6.1%40.4%126.00
2Carapaz Richard1.8%1.6%1.6%6.6%41.2%5.00
3Gee Derek1.7%1.8%1.5%17.8%40.0%151.00
4Johannessen Tobias Halland1.5%0.8%1.4%15.8%52.0%17.00
5Arensman Thymen1.5%1.4%1.3%6.2%29.4%41.00
6Yates Adam1.3%0.9%1.2%4.1%28.4%101.00
7Riccitello Matthew1.3%1.2%1.1%5.0%29.3%151.00
8Jorgenson Matteo1.1%2.1%0.7%7.4%19.3%251.00
9Bernal Egan0.9%0.7%0.8%3.9%37.4%51.00
10Kuss Sepp0.8%0.7%0.7%4.0%28.8%126.00
11Van Wilder Ilan0.8%1.6%0.5%4.1%35.3%151.00
12Piganzoli Davide0.8%0.5%0.7%3.9%45.5%126.00
13Grégoire Romain0.7%0.6%0.6%6.9%28.5%601.00
14Vauquelin Kévin0.7%0.7%0.6%4.0%18.5%151.00
15Higuita Sergio0.5%0.5%0.5%2.9%18.4%201.00
16Healy Ben0.5%1.6%0.2%2.8%8.5%81.00
17McNulty Brandon0.5%0.7%0.4%2.3%22.2%101.00
18Castrillo Pablo0.5%0.9%0.3%3.6%19.6%81.00
19O'Connor Ben0.5%0.5%0.4%2.4%24.2%126.00
20Jegat Jordan0.5%0.5%0.4%6.5%48.1%126.00
21Van Eetvelt Lennert0.4%0.3%0.3%3.3%16.2%201.00
22Wellens Tim0.4%1.1%0.1%1.7%5.9%501.00
23Tejada Harold0.4%0.9%0.2%2.0%10.3%67.00
24van der Poel Mathieu0.3%0.7%0.2%3.4%7.6%751.00
25Baudin Alex0.3%0.5%0.2%1.8%15.3%51.00
26Izagirre Ion0.3%0.2%0.3%2.8%12.5%201.00
27Foss Tobias0.3%0.4%0.2%2.0%7.7%401.00
28Storer Michael0.3%0.2%0.3%1.2%15.2%81.00
29Paret-Peintre Valentin0.3%0.4%0.2%2.0%11.9%23.00
30Van Gils Maxim0.3%0.5%0.2%1.7%9.3%301.00
Hindsight — the day as it actually finished — top 30, all heads
#RiderBlendCascade LambdaRankPodiumTop 15 Book odds
1Pogacar Tadej36.9%45.6%26.3%73.6%87.8%1.55
2Evenepoel Remco11.7%9.8%9.5%30.3%66.8%34.00
3Seixas Paul9.7%8.8%7.8%17.5%61.8%41.00
4Vingegaard Jonas9.1%8.0%7.3%34.6%78.0%21.00
5del Toro Isaac8.6%3.0%8.0%11.5%58.3%15.00
6Lipowitz Florian7.1%3.4%6.4%16.3%70.3%67.00
7Ayuso Juan2.6%1.8%2.3%8.0%53.0%151.00
8Arensman Thymen2.6%1.8%2.2%6.9%26.5%41.00
9Martinez Lenny2.5%2.1%2.0%5.8%41.9%101.00
10Hindley Jai1.9%1.7%1.5%5.0%30.9%126.00
11Carapaz Richard1.9%1.8%1.5%6.3%35.0%5.00
12Johannessen Tobias Halland1.6%0.6%1.5%13.8%46.4%17.00
13Pidcock Tom1.6%1.3%1.3%6.5%49.8%51.00
14Skjelmose Mattias1.4%1.3%1.2%5.4%41.9%101.00
15Jorgenson Matteo1.4%1.8%1.0%5.7%19.4%251.00
16Gee Derek1.3%1.3%1.1%9.6%31.1%151.00
17Riccitello Matthew1.3%1.0%1.1%3.4%24.2%151.00
18Van Wilder Ilan1.2%1.2%1.0%3.8%33.7%151.00
19Vauquelin Kévin1.1%0.7%0.9%3.2%20.2%151.00
20Grégoire Romain1.0%1.1%0.8%6.1%29.6%601.00
21Tejada Harold1.0%2.8%0.3%3.8%13.7%67.00
22McNulty Brandon1.0%1.0%0.8%3.1%25.5%101.00
23Kuss Sepp0.9%0.7%0.8%6.1%27.9%126.00
24Bernal Egan0.9%0.5%0.8%3.1%31.3%51.00
25Aranburu Alex0.9%2.0%0.4%3.1%10.2%1501.00
26Piganzoli Davide0.8%0.4%0.7%5.3%42.8%126.00
27Yates Adam0.7%0.7%0.6%1.5%19.7%101.00
28Higuita Sergio0.7%0.5%0.6%2.7%21.9%201.00
29van der Poel Mathieu0.7%0.8%0.5%4.4%9.9%751.00
30Izagirre Ion0.7%0.4%0.6%2.6%17.0%201.00

Angle

If the break goes — competitive riders outside the GC pool

The top 10 on GC after stage 13 removed — everyone below that is far enough back to be given freedom. Remaining riders under the 'Break survives' read; the conditional column renormalizes their win probability over this pool (P(win | a non-GC rider wins), pool holds 28% of the unconditional book). The model can't see who actually makes the break — read this as a fitness-for-the-day ranking, not break-formation odds.

RiderTeamBreak survives win pP(win | break wins)Book oddsBook devig
Hindley JaiRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe1.8%6.2%1260.5%
Carapaz RichardEF Education-EasyPost1.8%6.2%512.5%
Gee DerekLidl-Trek1.7%6.0%1510.4%
Johannessen Tobias HallandUno-X Mobility1.5%5.2%173.7%
Arensman ThymenNetcompany INEOS1.5%5.1%411.5%
Yates AdamUAE Team Emirates-XRG1.3%4.6%1010.6%
Riccitello MatthewDecathlon CMA CGM Team1.3%4.6%1510.4%
Jorgenson MatteoTeam Visma | Lease a Bike1.1%4.0%2510.2%
Bernal EganNetcompany INEOS0.9%3.2%511.2%
Kuss SeppTeam Visma | Lease a Bike0.8%2.8%1260.5%
Van Wilder IlanSoudal Quick-Step0.8%2.8%1510.4%
Piganzoli DavideTeam Visma | Lease a Bike0.8%2.7%1260.5%
Grégoire RomainGroupama-FDJ United0.7%2.4%6010.1%
Vauquelin KévinNetcompany INEOS0.7%2.3%1510.4%

Angle

The book's card — its favourites under our readings

Shortest book prices for the stage, with our blend win probability (and rank) under each scenario. 'free' = outside the excluded GC pool (top 10 on GC after stage 13), i.e. the type the peloton might let up the road.

RiderBook oddsDevigGC mountainReduced groupBreak survivesGC status
Pogacar Tadej1.5540.4%39.1% (#1)35.6% (#1)39.5% (#1)GC #1
Carapaz Richard5.0012.5%1.5% (#11)1.7% (#10)1.8% (#10)free
del Toro Isaac15.004.2%5.7% (#6)7.0% (#5)5.2% (#6)GC #8
Johannessen Tobias Halland17.003.7%1.4% (#12)1.5% (#13)1.5% (#12)free
Vingegaard Jonas21.003.0%10.4% (#3)7.8% (#4)10.8% (#3)GC #2
Paret-Peintre Valentin23.002.7%0.3% (#37)0.3% (#40)0.3% (#39)free
Evenepoel Remco34.001.8%12.0% (#2)12.1% (#2)11.8% (#2)GC #3
Seixas Paul41.001.5%6.6% (#5)8.0% (#3)7.0% (#4)GC #6
Arensman Thymen41.001.5%1.6% (#9)2.2% (#7)1.5% (#13)free
Pidcock Tom51.001.2%1.1% (#17)1.1% (#18)1.2% (#17)GC #4

After the stage

Results — won by Pogacar Tadej

PosRiderTeamGC mountain win pReduced group win pBreak survives win pHindsight (post-hoc) win p
1Pogacar TadejUAE Team Emirates-XRG39.1%35.6%39.5%36.9%
2del Toro IsaacUAE Team Emirates-XRG5.7%7.0%5.2%8.6%
3Seixas PaulDecathlon CMA CGM Team6.6%8.0%7.0%9.7%
4Vingegaard JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike10.4%7.8%10.8%9.1%
5Evenepoel RemcoRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe12.0%12.1%11.8%11.7%
6Ayuso JuanLidl-Trek2.2%2.2%2.3%2.6%
7Lipowitz FlorianRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe6.7%6.5%6.5%7.1%
8Carapaz RichardEF Education-EasyPost1.5%1.7%1.8%1.9%
9Johannessen Tobias HallandUno-X Mobility1.4%1.5%1.5%1.6%
10Skjelmose MattiasLidl-Trek1.0%1.2%1.2%1.4%

Scenario scoring — probability given to the actual winner

ScenarioBlend win pBook devig
GC mountain39.08%40.36%
Reduced group35.62%40.36%
Break survives39.50%40.36%
Hindsight (post-hoc)36.85%40.36%

Reflection

What we make of it

The road picked the base case, and picked it early. UAE lit the Col du Haag, the front group came apart on the steep middle ramps, and Pogacar went clear alone to take the plateau run-in to Le Markstein by 38 seconds over del Toro and Seixas — a fourth stage win and another chunk of GC time. The break read never got its chance: unlike Belfort yesterday, the escape was pulled back before the Haag and the day resolved exactly as the 'GC mountain' scenario described it. Only seven riders finished within a minute; the non-summit finish that made the reduced-group branch plausible turned out not to matter, because the selection happened 6 km earlier and nobody came back.

On the settled page's raw numbers all three reads look close to the book on the winner — 39.1% (GC mountain), 35.6% (reduced group), 39.5% (break survives) against the book's 40.4% devigged. That comparison flatters us and should not be quoted without the correction: blend_win_p is a set of per-rider marginals, not a distribution, and these boards sum to 114–116%. Renormalized over the field, the GC-mountain read gave Pogacar 34.2% and the book-preserving LambdaRank head 32.8%, both meaningfully below the book's 40.4%. The honest verdict is that we had the right shape of day and the right man on top, but we still would not back him as hard as the market did. That is the same gap the whole Tour has shown on Pogacar.

The hindsight run is the interesting part, because it says course knowledge was NOT the binding constraint here. Rebuilding the day from its actual finish curve — the curve-nearest WorldTour stages since 2021 that a GC captain actually won — produced a slightly more rolling-weighted profile (mountain 0.45 / rolling 0.54) than the pre-race read, because the Haag cresting 6 km out makes this structurally closer to a hard selective stage than a summit finish. With that perfect knowledge the model gave Pogacar 36.9% raw, and only 28.5% renormalized: worse than the read we actually published. Knowing the shape of the day did not help us price the favourite; it spread probability toward all-rounders instead.

What hindsight did fix was the supporting cast. It moved del Toro from 5.7% to 8.6% and Seixas from 6.6% to 9.7% — the two riders who actually took second and third — and its top six were the actual top seven minus Ayuso. So the day-shape signal carries real information about who survives the selection and in what order, and none about how much to concentrate on the strongest rider. Carry that forward as the watch item: the ceiling on Pogacar is structural, not a course-reading failure, and no amount of better reference-picking will close it. It is a probability-concentration limit in the heads themselves, and it belongs with the post-Paris settlement work rather than with the daily reads.