Pogacar wins Alpe d'Huez and breaks Pantani's climb record
Tadej Pogacar won Tour de France 2026 stage 19 from Gap to Alpe d'Huez in dominant fashion, climbing the iconic Alpine finish in 35 minutes 29 seconds—more than a minute faster than Marco Pantani's nearly 30-year-old record—and stretching his yellow-jersey lead over Remco Evenepoel. The 127.9km mountain stage ended with the Slovenian UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader catching a late break and winning in 3 hours 17 minutes 57 seconds, according to The Guardian's live report.
Key Takeaways
- Pogacar took stage 19 atop Alpe d'Huez and reset the climbing record at 35:29.
- Lenny Martinez finished second (+6s) and Richard Carapaz third (+9s).
- Pogacar's GC lead grew to 7:11 over Remco Evenepoel.
- Carapaz seized the polka-dot jersey; Mads Pedersen extended green.
- Stage 20 returns to Alpe d'Huez for another mountain showdown.
How did Pogacar win stage 19 on Alpe d'Huez?
Pogacar started the 13.8km final climb about 3 minutes 26 seconds behind the breakaway. Early pace from teammate Felix Grossschartner helped shred the group, and Adam Yates later offered a morale boost mid-climb.
Up front, Richard Carapaz, Lenny Martinez and Sepp Kuss contested the lead but failed to cooperate cleanly. Pogacar ate into the gap, caught Carapaz inside the final 2km, then surged clear in the last 750 metres to seal the win.
He told TNT Sports he was "super happy," praising the "crazy atmosphere" and saying he knew he had good legs in the first kilometre of the Alpe.
What does the result mean for the yellow jersey?
After stage 19, Pogacar leads the general classification in 67 hours 53 minutes. Evenepoel sits second at +7:11, with teammate Isaac Del Toro third at +9:42 and France's Paul Seixas fourth at +10:06.
The victory also lands among the standout moments covered on our Bizarre World hub: a yellow jersey closing a multi-minute deficit on cycling's most famous hairpin climb while rewriting history.
Cyclingnews framed the ascent as smashing Marco Pantani's long-standing Alpe d'Huez climbing mark after nearly three decades.
Who else featured on the Gap to Alpe d'Huez stage?
Martinez's second place helped him climb to fifth overall. Carapaz's third place put him atop the mountains classification on 91 points, one ahead of Pogacar on 90.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) remains clear in the points competition on 502, ahead of Jasper Philipsen on 445. The Racing Post had previewed the shorter Gap-to-Alpe route as a possible all-in day before Saturday's longer 170.9km return to the summit.