Same finish line as yesterday and same result at the Tour of Thailand 2026. Just as twenty-four hours ago, indeed, celebrating at Nong Khai, today's finish of a stage covering 150.2 kilometers starting from Phon Phisai, was Pierre Barbier, who once again managed to overtake in the final tens of meters a Alexander Salby (Li Ning Star) finishing second again.

The Danish sprinter's adjustments to his lead-out train were not enough to secure victory and, despite being excellently launched by his teammates at 210 meters from the line, he had to bow once more to the final rush of the French rider from Terengganu Cycling Team, thus claiming his third personal victory of this 2026 season while wearing the yellow jersey as race leader.

Speaking of the general classification, thanks to today's second win Barbier has extended his advantage in the standings where he now looks down on everyone from above, holding an 8-second lead over Salby and 14" over Korean Kim, but things are set to change tomorrow because the Nong Khai-Phu Foi Lom stage of 141.6 kilometers will present riders with the first and only uphill finish of the Thai race.

"I'm much happier than yesterday because today's stage was longer and I was more controlled, but the team did an excellent job again throughout a day that, in the end, turned out to be simply perfect" said the twenty-eight-year-old from Beauvais after crossing the line, before recounting in more detail how today's stage unfolded.

"The plan was to send away a breakaway of 4 or 5 men at most to control it better, but it wasn't easy to implement because in the first hour there were a lot of attacks. My teammates behaved excellently nonetheless, but at a certain point, I told them to stop pulling because the other teams weren't helping us. This meant that after five minutes other teams started chasing at the front of the group and in the end in the final kilometers we neutralized the breakaway. Tomorrow? I think it's a bit too hard for me. I'll try to give my best anyway, but we have strong climbers in the team so I believe we'll race for them" admitted with great honesty a Barbier who, with two stage wins in his pocket, has already made this Asian trip extremely satisfying.

STAGE RESULTS

1. Pierre Barbier (FRA/Terengganu Cycling Team) - 3:19:58

2. Alexander Salby (DAN/Li Ning Star) s.t.

3. Athit Poulard (THA/Roojai Insurance Winspace) s.t.

4. Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil (MAL/Malaysia Pro Cycling) s.t.

5. Jesper Rasch (OLA/China Anta - Mentech Cycling Team) s.t.

6. Taisei Hino (GIA/Shimano Racing Team) s.t.

7. Marc Ryan Lago (FIL/Go For Gold Philippines) s.t.

8. Cameron Scott (AUS/Li Ning Star) s.t.

9. Nati Samansanti (THA/Grant Thornton Cycling Team) s.t.

10. Oskar Nisu (EST/China Anta - Mentech Cycling Team) s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Pierre Barbier (FRA/Terengganu Cycling Team) - 2:20:32

2. Alexander Salby (DAN/Li Ning Star) at 8"

3. Euro Kim (COR/LX Cycling Team) at 14"

4. Athit Poulard (THA/Roojai Insurance Winspace) at 16"

5. Oskar Nisu (EST/China Anta - Mentech Cycling Team) at 16"

6. Luke Mudgway (NZL/Li Ning Star) at 17"

7. Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (THA/Thailand Continental Cycling Team) at 17"

8. Konychev Alexander (ITA/China Anta - Mentech Cycling Team) at 18"

9. Saharat Simons (THA/Grant Thornton Cycling Team) at 18"

10. Cameron Scott (AUS/Li Ning Star) at 19"

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points classification: Pierre Barbier (FRA/Terengganu Cycling Team)

Team classification: Malaysia Pro Cycling (MAL)

Photo credit: Tour of Thailand