2026/07/25 – Stage 20 – Le Bourg d’Oisans > Alpe d’Huez
The queen stage of the Tour de France 2026, with four major ascents en route to a historic second consecutive finish at Alpe d’Huez, crowned a special climber: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), the winner of stage 20 after an attacking festival in the mountains and an exhilarating battle against Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike). The Eagle of Durango had opened a gap at the Col de Sarenne, the final giant of the day, but he crashed on the final run-in to the finish and saw Carapaz fly past him. Third yesterday at the first finish at L’Alpe d’Huez, the Ecuadorian climber takes his third Tour stage win, the second this year, two days after conquering Orcières-Merlette. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finished second ahead of Kuss. Completing the top 5 arm in arm, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG) are set to step onto the overall podium tomorrow in Paris, with the Mexican leader claiming the white jersey and the third position overall. Carapaz all but secured the polka-dot jersey, while Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) did the same for the green jersey.
L’Alpe d’Huez, second leg! And this one is even harder than stage 19, even though the riders won’t tackle the legendary 21-hairpin that crowned Tadej Pogacar on Friday. This time, they reach the resort via the Col de Sarenne ascent (12.8 km at 7.3%), whose summit is 14.4 kilometres from the line. Before that, they will pass Col de la Croix de Fer (HC), Col du Télégraphe (cat 1), and Col du Galibier (HC). These major summits contribute to a gruelling 5,450 metres of total elevation gain: by far the highest figure in this Tour!
Carapaz goes early
As soon as the flag drops to mark the start in Le Bourg d’Oisans, attackers set off. But the breakaway only becomes established on the ascent to Col du Glandon (HC, summit at km 33.7) with 14 leaders: Armirail, Jorgenson, Kuss, Piganzoli (Visma-Lease a Bike), Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), Carapaz, Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), Arensman, Foss (Netcompany Ineos), Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), T. Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), and Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United).
Inside the final four kilometres of ascent, Carapaz attacks. Paret-Peintre tries to react but the Ecuadorian climber takes 20 KOM points at the summit and strengthen his grip on the polka-dot jersey. Meanwhile, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) attacks from the peloton. The attackers get back together on the valley and the Danish powerhouse all but seals the green jersey as he takes 25 points in the intermediate sprint in Saint-Julien-Mont-Denis (km 66.5).
Carapaz and Pogacar up the ante
The road rises again with the sequence of climbs leading to Col du Télégraphe (cat 1, summit at km 87.6) and Col du Galibier (HC, km 110.5). The breakaway explodes: Carapaz conquers both summits and all but secures the mountains classification. Only four riders are still with him over the highest summit of this Tour (2,642 metres above sea level): Kuss, Hindley, and Ayuso.
Behind, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) ups the ante and makes a significant selection. At the bottom of the final climb to Col de Sarenne (HC, km 156.5), the Slovenian pulls a reduced GC group three and a half minutes behind the leaders.
Kuss takes off… and crashes
After a series of attacks, Kuss distances Carapaz and Hindley 3 kilometres from the summit. Carapaz tries to resist. At the summit, he’s 18 seconds behind Kuss. The gap drops down to 12 seconds… And Kuss crashes a couple of times on the following downhill! On the second occasion, Carapaz passes him with six kilometres remaining.
In the meantime, Del Toro accelerates and distances Paul Seixas, his main rival for the white jersey and the third overall place. Evenepoel attacks with three kilometres remaining. Pogacar paces Del Toro. At the finish, Carapaz takes his tenth Grand Tour stage win (3 at the Tour, 3 at La Vuelta, 4 in the Giro) 26 seconds ahead of Evenepoel, with Kuss in third place (+31’’).
Arm in arm, Pogacar and Del Toro cross the line with a gap of 1’05’’. The Slovenian all but secures his fifth Tour. And the Mexican is set to join him on the overall podium (3rd behind Evenepoel).
Stage 20
1 Richard CARAPAZ EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 04h 59′ 39” – B : 10” –
2 Remco EVENEPOEL RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE 05h 00′ 05” + 00h 00′ 26” B : 6” –
3 Sepp KUSS TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE 05h 00′ 10” + 00h 00′ 31” B : 4” –
4 T. POGACAR UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG 05h 00′ 44” + 00h 01′ 05” – –
5 I. DEL TORO UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG 05h 00′ 44” + 00h 01′ 05” – –
6 L. MARTINEZ BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 05h 00′ 46” + 00h 01′ 07” – –
GC
- T. Pogacar UEX 72h 53′ 44″
- R. Evenepoel RBH + 06′ 26″
- I. Del Toro UEX + 09′ 42″
4. P. Seixas Decathlon CMA CGM Team 73h 05′ 40” + 00h 11′ 56” B : 8” –
5. L. Martinez Bahrain Victorious 73h 06′ 46” + 00h 13′ 02” B : 6” –
6. M. Skjelmos LIDL-TREK 73h 08′ 43” + 00h 14′ 59” – –
7. J. Ayuso Lidl-Trek 73h 11′ 32” + 00h 17′ 48” – –
8. R. Carapaz EF Education – Easypost 73h 13′ 44” + 00h 20′ 00” B : 28” –
