Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) after a remarkable performance on stage 19 at the Tour de France, the first of two back-to-back summits of the iconic Alpe d'Huez on Friday.
Pogačar launched out of a select chase group on the lower slopes of the ascent and caught the remaining riders from a large breakaway; Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), inside the last 1.8km.
The Slovenian made his winning move inside the final 800 metres of the climb to take a solo victory and extended his lead in the GC Standings to 7:11 ahead of runner-up Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).
Evenepoel wasn't able to follow Pogačar when he initially surged, but inside 3.6km to go, he made his own separation from the GC rivals, finishing sixth on the stage and gaining more time on Pogačar's teammate Isaac del Toro , who is sitting in third place overall at 9:42 back.
Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) was also part of the selection chasing alongside his teammate Matthew Riccitello, who was returning from the original breakaway, and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). The Frenchman finished ninth of the day and maintained his fourth place in the overall classification at 10:06 back.
Martinez's day in the breakaway resulted in him finishing second on the stage, and he moved up two places in the overall classification to fifth place at 13:00 back.
Skjelmose is in sixth place overall at 13:09, while his teammate Juan Ayuso struggled on the climb and moved down two places and is now in seventh place at 15:58.
The previous day's stage winner and third-place on Alpe d'Huez, Carapaz, moved up two places in the standings into eighth place at 21:15.
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling), who also struggled mid-climb, fought hard on the upper slopes, dropping one place in the standings to ninth at 21:30.
Rounding out the top-10 is Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies), currently in tenth place at 23:21.
The racing continues with the queen stage 20 for an historic second mountaintop finish on Alpe d'Huez on Saturday.
Tour de France current GC standings
Place |
Rider (Country) Team |
Result |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
67:53:00 |
2 |
Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
00:07:11 |
3 |
Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
00:09:42 |
4 |
Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM |
00:10:06 |
5 |
Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious |
00:13:00 |
6 |
Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek |
00:13:09 |
7 |
Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek |
00:15:58 |
8 |
Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost |
00:21:15 |
9 |
Tom Pidcock (GBr) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
00:21:30 |
10 |
Jordan Jegat (Fra) Totalenergies |
00:23:21 |
The world’s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France. From Barcelona through to Paris, our experienced team will bring you breaking news, expert insight, and in-depth coverage from every stage as the battle for the yellow jersey plays out. Plus, access the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
