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Alpe d’Huez solo surge
Tadej Pogacar launched a solo attack from the foot of Alpe d’Huez to win the 19th stage of the Tour de France on Friday 24 July 2026, extending his overall lead with two stages to go.
“- Published Defending champion Tadej Pogacar is on the verge of winning a record-equalling fifth Tour de France after taking a storming victory on stage 19 to Alpe d'Huez”
Pogacar caught Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz and Frenchman Lenny Martinez with 1.5km left, then surged ahead for his fifth stage win of this year’s race and 26th overall.
Pogacar’s margin at the finish was six seconds over Martinez and nine seconds over Carapaz, while American Sepp Kuss faded and finished 1 minute, 14 seconds adrift.
With a lead of 7 minutes, 11 seconds over Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings, Pogacar was on the brink of joining Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only men to win five Tours.
The stage was rated as an HC mountain pass, and Pogacar said, "It's very cool to win up here," as fans screamed encouragement on the 21 hairpins.
Chase dynamics and quotes
Pogacar’s win came as Carapaz, Kuss and Martinez “did not work together properly to distance Pogacar when he was lower down,” a factor Pogacar pointed to after he said, "But they were playing against each other a bit so it helped me to catch up."
In the final climb, Pogacar rode without a team-mate for the last section, and he kept his focus as spectators lit flares that left him with limited visibility.
The BBC described the race as a “crazy atmosphere” on the climb, and Pogacar said, "It was a crazy atmosphere on the whole climb" as he credited the team for helping him pull it off.
FloBikes previewed Stage 20 as the Queen stage that should finalize the Tour winner “barring any kind of disaster on Stage 21,” with a 170.9-kilometer ride from Le Bourg d'Oisans up to Alpe d’Huez.
FloBikes also noted that Stage 19 had featured a 127.9-kilometer route from Gap to Alpe d’Huez, where Pogacar moved to the front with 1.5 kilometers remaining and then added his name to the short list of yellow-jersey winners on the climb.
Stage 20 stakes and records
As Pogacar moved closer to a record-equalling fifth Tour, multiple outlets tied the performance to Alpe d’Huez history, including a new record time of 35:27 up the climb.
“Cyclisme/Tour de France-Pogacar conquiert l'Alpe d'Huez et se rapproche d'un 5e sacre information fournie par Reuters 24/07/2026 à 19:59 par Vincent Daheron Tadej Pogacar a mis l'Alpe d'Huez (Isère) à ses pieds en y remportant vendredi la 19e étape du Tour de France, assommant encore un peu plus cette 113e édition à deux jours de l'arrivée à Paris”
Cycling Weekly said Pogacar broke the record set by Marco Pantani in 1997 and that he set the new time of 35:27, while also noting it was his first win on Alpe d’Huez and only the second by any rider wearing the yellow jersey after Geraint Thomas in 2018.
Le Monde reported that Pogacar increased his lead in the overall standings to more than seven minutes to Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, who finished sixth, two and a half minutes down.
Sky Sports said Pogacar is on the brink of joining Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only men to win five Tours, and it added that the race ends on Sunday on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Looking ahead, Pogacar said, "Tomorrow is the Queen stage of the Tour," and he added, "We don't care about anything else," as Stage 20 was set to include three HC climbs—Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Galibier and Col de Sarenne—plus a Category One ascent of Col du Télégraphe.
