Pogacar on verge of fifth Tour after Alpe d’Huez win
Tadej Pogacar won stage 19 of the 2026 Tour de France on Alpe d’Huez, moving to the brink of a record-equalling fifth overall title. The defending champion produced a decisive late climb to catch the breakaway and set a new ascent record, reinforcing his dominance before the race’s final major mountain stage.
Pogacar finished six seconds ahead of France’s Lenny Martinez, with Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz three seconds further back in third. He leads Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel by seven minutes 11 seconds, while UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Isaac del Toro is third, 9 minutes 42 seconds down and leading the young riders’ classification. Pogacar’s Alpe d’Huez time of 35 minutes 27 seconds beat Marco Pantani’s 1997 record, and Saturday’s queen stage includes another ascent of the climb and 2,000 additional metres of elevation gain.
- Pogacar won stage 19 on Alpe d’Huez in record time.
- He leads Evenepoel by more than seven minutes overall.
- A fifth Tour title now appears highly likely.
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The Tour de France is the world's most prestigious cycling race, held over three weeks with 21 stages across the country. The overall winner is whoever achieves the lowest combined time across all stages, with mountain climbs typically proving decisive.
Tadej Pogacar is a Slovenian who has dominated international road cycling in recent years and is the defending Tour champion. Winning a fifth Tour title would tie him with the greatest riders in history for the most overall victories.
Alpe d'Huez is one of the Tour's most famous mountain climbs, located in the French Alps with 21 hairpin turns. With only two stages remaining and the final stage featuring another mountain ascent, these closing days are where the race's outcome is typically determined.