Unstoppable Pogacar crushes Alpe d’Huez record to win Tour de France stage 19

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) conquered Alpe d’Huez to win stage 19 of the Tour de France ahead of Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), moving one step closer to winning a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey in Paris on Sunday.

It was always destined to be a pivotal day, marking the first of back-to-back stages on cycling's most mythical climb: Alpe d’Huez. 

By producing the fastest ascent in the history of Alpe d'Huez, Pogačar emphatically silenced fears that the devastating illness ravaging his UAE teammates would compromise his own yellow jersey defence.

A 43-rider breakaway formed during the opening kilometres of the stage on the Col Bayard. By the foot of Alpe d’Huez, 14 remained at the head of the race, and they held an advantage of 3:25. 

The head of the race became more selective when Carapaz, Martinez and Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) attacked clear. 

However, as the road continued to rise, the breakaway’s advantage began to dissipate, as the fervour of the fans who packed out the 21 iconic hairpins spurred on a rampant Pogačar, who dropped the hammer from the GC group on the lower slopes of the climb.

Hunting down the breakaway riders three minutes ahead, Pogačar made contact with Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) a few hundred metres later, after the Briton dropped back from the breakaway. 

Pogačar latched onto Yates' wheel as the Briton set a strong tempo, before the yellow jersey launched from his wheel like a coiled spring with around 10km remaining.

The world champion continued to collect distanced riders from the breakaway as he traversed each hairpin, while Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) led the chase with Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) on his wheel.

Carapaz, Kuss, and Martinez started to attack each other continuously, as their gap fizzled below the one-minute mark to the relentless yellow jersey with 5.6km still remaining. 

Such was the speed of Pogačar that the world champion had to signal to the roaring crowds to give him space, as the front trio came into his vision with 4km remaining.

Evenepoel launched an attack of his own from the chasing group and opened an advantage over Seixas, Del Toro and Skjelmose, before Del Toro also went clear of Seixas in the battle for third and the white jersey.

In one last bid to withstand the yellow jersey, Carapaz attacked with 3km remaining, as Pogačar collected Martinez and distanced Kuss. The Ecuadorian made the Slovenian work hard, but Pogačar and Martinez closed the gap with 1.8km remaining.

Pogačar launched his first dig with 1.5km remaining, but couldn't initially shake the duo. His next effort came under the flamme rouge, and with each pedal stroke, the gap began to open as he soloed to win one of his finest Tour stage wins.

Evenepoel was the best of the rest among the GC contenders, finishing 2:29 behind Pogačar, while Del Toro ended 2:41 behind his teammate and Skjelmose and Seixas at 2:45.

It marks Pogačar’s 26th Tour stage win, and one of the world champion’s most iconic. In terms of the overall standings, Pogačar now leads Evenepoel by 7:11, while Del Toro sits third at 9:42, 24 seconds ahead of Seixas, who remains fourth.

The flag dropped in Gap, a staple host town when the Tour visits the Alps, and the road immediately began to rise with the Col Bayard. UAE Team Emirates-XRG looked to stamp their authority and quash any doubts about their team strength, with Nils Politt pacing at the front from the get-go.

Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Ben Healy and Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) formed the first group to open an advantage over the UAE-led peloton, with the Emirati team setting a solid tempo.

However, this didn't deter further attacks, and a 43-rider group would form before the crest of the climb.

Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) was the highest-placed GC rider to make the group, while Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) also featured as the duo continued their contest for mountain points. 

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) looked to have recovered from his stage 17 struggles, while Mattia Catteneo, Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Tiesj Benoot and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) were all potential satellite riders for their GC leaders.

Visma | Lease a Bike, EF Education-EasyPost, Movistar and Lidl-Trek were the best represented teams in the breakaway, with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) featuring for the latter alongside Gee-West, Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek.

Roughly a kilometre from the top of the climb, Florian Vermeersch and Tim Wellens found themselves dropped from the yellow jersey group. Although Wellens managed to rejoin the pack on the descent, he was definitively distanced when the road tilted up again on the Col du Noyer.

Inside the final 100km, Politt continued to spearhead the peloton. The German powerhouse received welcome reinforcement from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe riders, helping to cap the breakaway’s advantage at the four-minute mark.

Pedersen moved a significant step closer to securing the green jersey by claiming the maximum 25 points at the intermediate sprint with 38km remaining. The Dane extended his lead to 57 points. 

Healy, Gee-West, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Joshua Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) were among the riders distanced from the breakaway before the Col d’Ornon.

The breakaway continued to fragment on the Col d’Ornon thanks largely to the pace of Bruno Armirail (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Tobias Foss (Netcompany-Ineos) with Pedersen, Yates and Paret-Peintre among the names distanced on the lower slopes.

Meanwhile, the yellow jersey group also whittled to just 11 riders on the climb thanks to the pace of Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), which saw the gap to the breakaway decrease. The yellow jersey group included the top eight on GC, minus Martinez, who was up ahead in the breakaway. 

On the run-in to Alpe d’Huez, the returning Lidl-Trek trio of Gee-West, Pedersen, and Vacek all contributed to the chase of the breakaway, with Martinez’s presence threatening the GC positions of Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose.

Armirail and Foss buried themselves on the final run-in to the summit finish, with the ambition of setting Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) up for a stage win, respectively, on the mighty Alpe d'Huez.

Lidl-Trek and Mads Pedersen led the yellow jersey group onto the climb, before Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) upped the tempo. 

Meanwhile, Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) split the breakaway group with an attack before Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) countered the Dutchman.

Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) were dropped on the lower slopes from the GC group, before Pogačar dropped the hammer, leaving the rest of the GC group in his wake and beginning his chase of the front trio.