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Saturday, July 25, 2026

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July 4 - 26: Tour de France

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Tour de France stage nineteen reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the report from stage winner & GC leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:

Becoming only the second Yellow Jersey in history to take victory on Alpe d’Huez, Tadej Pogačar won stage 19 of the Tour de France and produced a performance that will be remembered for generations.

Attacking 12km from the summit of the mythical mountain, Pogačar closed a three-minute deficit to the breakaway and rode clear of his final opponents with 800m to go. As he posted up to celebrate at the finish line, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man clocked in a record-setting ascent of Alpe d’Huez in the process.

Now a winner of five stages at this year’s Tour de France, Pogačar’s time of 35 minutes and 26 seconds is the fastest ascent ever recorded up the sport’s most famous mountain. With this latest conquest, the defending champion extends his lead in the Yellow Jersey to over seven minutes, as the Slovenian bids to win the Tour for a record-equalling fifth time.

Pogačar’s young teammate, Isaac del Toro, stretched out his advantage in the White Jersey, with the Mexican putting more time into his rival for the final podium, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM). Del Toro took seventh place on stage 19, and sits third overall heading into the final stage in the mountains.

On Friday afternoon, victory was in the balance right the way up the final climb, as Pogačar passed rider after rider in pursuit of the front of the race.

Earlier on in stage 19, a large breakaway had built up a lead of over four minutes to the chasing peloton. With UAE Team Emirates-XRG depleted by the loss of Brandon McNulty on stage 18, and a bout of illness which had knocked back a few of its riders, it was a tough ask to marshal the front of the peloton.

But the Emirati squad rallied through Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch, and Nils Politt. With Adam Yates up the road in the breakaway, operating as a satellite rider, it was over to Felix Großschartner to set a ferocious chase on the penultimate climb of the day. Such were the Austrian’s efforts that the peloton was down to only 13 riders, with the full ascent of Alpe d’Huez yet to go.

The breakaway began the day’s final climb with an advantage of three and a half minutes, and it soon became clear that the strongest riders out front were Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Sensing that he would have to make his move sooner rather than later, Pogačar plotted an audacious plan.

With 12km of the climb still to go, the Slovenian attacked from the group of favourites and immediately went in lone pursuit of the breakaway. His deficit was three minutes, but he was not to be deterred.

Up the road, after all, was his teammate and loyal lieutenant, Yates. The British rider had reserved some energy from his day in the breakaway, and produced an important 2km-long pull with Pogačar in his wheel.

Buoyed by his resurgent teammate’s support, Pogačar attacked over the top and continued his assault on the mountain.

With 8.5km to ride, his deficit to the front had reduced to a little over two minutes, and just 3km later, that gap had shrunk to under a minute. The four-time Tour de France champion was on the charge.

As Kuss, Martinez and Carapaz came into the view of Pogačar inside the final 4km, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider took a breath, allowing himself a momentary respite in order to regather his strength for the final push. Martinez was caught with 2.7km to go, and a kilometre later, Martinez, Carapaz and Pogačar were a leading trio at the head of the race.

After an 11-km-long pursuit, the Yellow Jersey led his rivals under the flamme rouge, before kicking again in a bid to rid himself of their company. With 800m to go, the elastic snapped, and Carapaz and Martinez were forced to relent. The Slovenian stole a march and powered his way up the climb’s final slopes.

Over the line, Pogačar was alone, having produced a performance for the ages. The world champion had overcome a three-minute deficit, passed dozens of riders along the way, and set a record-breaking ascent of the sport’s Hollywood climb.

Alpe d’Huez was his, so too was stage 19. Two days from Paris, the Slovenian will hope the same can be said for the Yellow Jersey come Sunday evening.

Pogačar: “It is very cool to win up here, and it was a crazy atmosphere the whole climb. It was thanks to all the team that I could pull it off in the end. I was riding for the teammates today, and I am super happy to take the win.”

“When I heard some of the guys dropped when Felix was pulling a super good pace in the beginning of the climb… Already, the climb before, we were going full gas because the breakaway was so strong. We were going full gas all day, and then in the beginning, in the first kilometre of Alpe d’Huez, I knew that I had good legs and there are not many guys left that maybe can follow, or try to go with me. I tried and then I committed to the top.”

“I had Adam in the middle, and he gave me a big morale boost. I am super happy that he is finally back after that day of the TT, and I was super happy to ride behind him for a couple of kilometres on the climb. In the end, I had to fight off against super good riders, but they were playing a bit with each other at the end, so this helped me to catch up and win the stage.

“Good shape, I just go day by day, and tomorrow is the Queen stage of the Tour. I hope that Paris will be a nice day and super shiny, but tomorrow is the hardest day of the Tour.”

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Here's the Tour stage 19 report from second-place Lenny Martinez's Team Bahrain Victorious:

Lenny Martinez produced another outstanding performance in the high mountains to finish second on Stage 19 of the Tour de France atop the legendary Alpe d’Huez, moving up two places in the general classification to fifth overall.

The Frenchman joined the day’s early breakaway, which formed as the battle for both the Maillot Vert and the King of the Mountains classification unfolded. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) accelerated to collect maximum points at the intermediate sprint, while current polka dot jersey wearer Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) fought for valuable mountain points before the break established a significant advantage.

Bahrain Victorious placed two riders in the move, with Martinez joined by teammate Antonio Tiberi as the break built an advantage of around four minutes over the Yellow Jersey group. As the race reached the foot of Alpe d’Huez, the leaders still held an advantage of approximately 3:15.

As the climb unfolded, Martinez emerged as one of the strongest riders in the breakaway. Alongside Carapaz and Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike), he proved to be one of the final survivors from the day’s escape, but behind them the Yellow Jersey group was rapidly closing the gap. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) launched his acceleration from the lower slopes of Alpe d’Huez, bridging across to the leading trio and erasing the breakaway’s advantage.

Lenny Martinez finishes second in stage 19. Sirotti photo

Carapaz attempted to resist the race leader’s acceleration, while Martinez immediately latched onto Pogačar’s wheel and matched the initial surge. The Bahrain Victorious rider fought bravely alongside the Slovenian, but one final attack from Pogačar in the closing kilometres proved decisive as the Yellow Jersey rode clear to victory.

Martinez dug deep over the final ramps to outsprint Carapaz for second place on the stage, capping another exceptional climbing performance. His result saw him move up two places in the general classification to fifth overall, climbing above Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) by just nine seconds heading into the final mountain stage.

Lenny Martinez:
“It wasn’t in the plan for me to go in the breakaway. I just saw a big group going clear and thought it was better to be at the front than back in the bunch.

"Then I started thinking about how Tadej beat me in Switzerland, and today I wanted to get my revenge. But I should have known how strong he was. We had a four-minute advantage at the bottom of the climb, which is a lot, and we were climbing really fast, but in the end he was simply too strong.

"It’s a bit disappointing to miss out on the stage win, but I’m sure my day will come.

"I was only thinking about the general classification, but then on the final climb more about the stage victory. Anyway, it was nice to have a gap. Despite the huge crowds, it actually felt safer than I expected. I had some friends on the climb. I didn’t manage to see them, but I’m sure they enjoyed seeing me at the front, so that makes me happy.

"Tomorrow is another climbing day to Alpe d’Huez. It was a hard stage today, but finishing second is still a good result for the team. Against Tadej, there wasn’t much more we could do.”

Sports Director Roman Kreuziger:
“I wasn’t surprised to see Lenny in the breakaway because it was one of the scenarios we discussed on the rest day. We knew there was a good chance the break would form around the intermediate sprint, with Mads fighting for the green jersey creating an opportunity. As we’ve seen throughout this final week, the racing has really exploded around those points. Richard Carapaz was also there with teammates fighting for the polka dot jersey, and the break quickly gained a significant advantage.

"What did surprise me was seeing other teams commit to chasing the break. They were quite a long way behind, but perhaps they were concerned about Carapaz moving up in the classifications. At this stage of the Tour, every jersey and every position matters, so everyone is playing their own game.

"I think Lenny is capable of climbing even faster on his own, but with the riders around you have to be tactical. In the end, to be beaten only by Tadej Pogačar is nothing to be disappointed about. You’re not the first rider to lose to him, you’ve beaten everyone else.

"If someone had told us a week ago that Lenny would be sitting fifth overall heading into the final mountain stage, we would happy. It’s not a comfortable position because there are still riders close to us, but we have every reason to be happy with where we are and confident going into the final stage.”

Here's the Tour report from fourth-place Sepp Kuss' Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Sepp Kuss battled to a fourth-place finish in stage 19 of the Tour de France. The American was in contention for the stage victory for much of the climb to Alpe d’Huez but ultimately came up just short. Tadej Pogacar proved to be the strongest on the final ascent and soloed to victory.

In the second stage through the French Alps, Team Visma | Lease a Bike quickly showed its attacking intentions. Bruno Armirail, Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson and Davide Piganzoli were all part of a 40-rider breakaway that formed on the day's first climb.

The cooperation in the breakaway was excellent. Thanks to the strong work of Piganzoli, Jorgenson and Armirail, a reduced lead group started the ascent of Alpe d’Huez with a healthy advantage. Kuss was among the strongest riders in the race and remained in contention for the stage win for a long time, but eventually had to settle for fourth place.

Sepp Kuss finishes fourth. Sirotti photo

“I felt really good today,” Kuss reflected afterwards. “It was a great day for the team. We had several riders in the breakaway, where everyone did an job. I had a great battle with Carapaz and Martinez on the final climb and tried several times to get away, but unfortunately it just wasn’t work out. Still, I’m pleased with my performance today and I’m happy with how things went.”

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Valentin Paret-Peintre’s Team Soudal Quick-Step posted this Tour stage 19 report:

Friday was the day that Alpe d’Huez finally returned at the Tour de France after four years. The race’s most iconic climb and one of cycling’s greatest stadiums, Alpe d’Huez (13.7km, 8.1%)and its 21 hairpins welcomed the peloton at the end of the 127.9km stage 19, which started from Gap.

For Soudal Quick-Step’s Valentin Paret-Peintre, it was another day in which he continued his Tour de France polka dot battle. Firmly focused on mathematically taking the KOM jersey he had been wearing on loan since the end of last week, Paret-Peintre jumped from the peloton as soon as the attacks began, joining what soon turned into one of the largest breakaway groups of this edition. From there, the Frenchman once again gave his best and won the first two climbs of the day, Col Bayard and Col du Nover, making sure he would remain in contention for the prestigious polka dot jersey regardless of the stage’s outcome.

Valentin Paret-Peintre finishes stage 18. Sirotti photo

Going into the penultimate stage of the race, which brings three Hors catégorie climbs on the course - Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Galibier and Col de Sarenne - Valentin is just seven points behind the new leader of the mountain standings, which should make for a fascinating battle for the jersey that no French rider has won in the last seven years.
“I’m glad I could be up there again and stay in the fight for the polka dot. Saturday will be another opportunity, with many points on the table, and I hope to be again there and take as many as possible, as I would really love to bring this jersey home, but I know it won’t be easy with so many hard climbs on the route”, said Valentin, who so far has won fourteen classified ascents at this Tour de France.

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And here's the Tour report from Thymen Arensman's Team Netcompany INEOS:

Thymen Arensman secured 12th place on stage 19 of the Tour de France, producing a determined ride, culminating on the legendary ascent of Alpe d’Huez.

The racing ignited early on, with the peloton fracturing on the opening climb of the day. Arensman was well represented in the front group alongside teammates Tobias Foss and Josh Tarling, with the trio combining effectively as the stage unfolded.

Thymen Arensman racing in stage 14 of the 2025 Tour de France. Sirotti photo

Tarling put in a huge shift on the front of the group, driving the pace with 50 kilometres remaining before finally swinging off after a series of formidable turns with 43km to go.

Foss then took over the workload, continuing to support Arensman as the race headed towards the decisive final climb.

At the foot of Alpe d’Huez, with 12 kilometres remaining, Arensman launched an attack in an attempt to split the group. His move was quickly neutralised as Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) countered at the front. Arensman was unable to respond to the successive attacks, while behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) accelerated to close the three minute gap.

Pogacar went on to claim the win atop Alpe d’Huez, while Arensman dug deep to the finish, crossing the line solo in 12th place after another resilient performance in the high mountains.

Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,

Saturday, July 25, 2026

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