up a lead of 38 seconds over the nearest group of his rivals, including Roglič, Quintana, and Yates, who retained the leader's yellow jersey. The advantage saw Pogačar re-enter the top ten as he recouped about a third of the time he had lost on the previous stage. On the other hand, several GC contenders lost time: Richard Carapaz, Enric Mas, and Bauke Mollema finished a further 38 seconds behind Pogačar, while Tom Dumoulin, Sergio Higuita, and Alejandro Valverde lost over two minutes. Alaphilippe eventually crossed the finish line over 11 minutes after Pogačar did. GC contender Thibaut Pinot, who had been suffering from back pain and had been dropped from the peloton on the Port de Balès, was shepherded across the finish line by his teammates nearly 19 minutes behind the main group of GC contenders, effectively ending his chances of an overall victory. Stage 96 September 2020 – Pau to Laruns, The stage started with multiple breakaway attempts, including from Tiesj Benoot () and Hugh Carthy (), but the fast pace set by and prevented any breakaways from forming successfully. On the Col de la Hourcère, the peloton began to fracture, while at the front of the race, Lennard Kämna () and Marc Hirschi () made further breakaway attempts. The latter managed to make it stick, riding away from the peloton with 87 kilometers left, while back problems continued to hamper Thibaut Pinot, who was dropped again. By the time Hirschi reached the summit and took the maximum mountain points on offer, the weather began to have an effect on the stage, making for a foggy descent. More importantly, he was nearly two minutes ahead of an eight-man chasing group that included Kämna, Daniel Martínez, and Sébastien Reichenbach, and nearly three minutes ahead of the -led peloton at that point. While out in front, Hirschi won the intermediate sprint and took 24 mountain points. With 34.5 kilometers left, Hirschi still maintained a lead of over four minutes, but the peloton slowly began to close the gap on the decisive Col de Marie Blanque. Considering the rest day to follow, the GC contenders were emboldened to be aggressive. With many riders struggling to keep pace, including yellow jersey wearer Adam Yates, the four at the front (Egan Bernal, Mikel Landa, Tadej Pogačar, and Primož Roglič) sought to increase the distance to their rivals. After Hirschi summitted first, this time