Richard Carapaz conquers Alpe d'Huez, Sepp Kuss falls twice in the finale, as Tadej Pogacar comfortably keeps Tour de France yellow

Tour de France

Stage 20 | Mountain | Men | 25.07.2026

Finished

Le Bourg-d'OisansAlpe d'Huez

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STAGE 20 HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights: Carapaz conquers Alpe d’Huez as Pogacar closes in on fifth Tour de France

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17:25

WATCH: 'I'M VERY EMOTIONAL' - DEL TORO CREDITS POGACAR AFTER SEALING PODIUM FINISH

‘I’m very emotional’ – Del Toro credits Pogacar after sealing podium finish

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17:24

CARAPAZ SEIZES ON KUSS MISTAKE TO SNATCH SECOND STAGE WIN, POGACAR ON BRINK OF FIFTH TOUR TITLE

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) doubled up on Alpe d’Huez, taking his second stage win of the week, and at the same time securing the King of the Mountains jersey on the race’s queen stage.

The rider from Ecuador took advantage of two late spills from Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), passing the American with just a few kilometres left to make it two victories in three days.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), with the yellow jersey all but secured, took up the role of domestique deluxe in service to Isaac Del Toro. The world champion made sure the third podium place and white jersey of best young rider would go to his team-mate.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) achieved the seemingly impossible for a sprinter: making it over the first HC climb in touch with the leaders, in a position to take maximum points at the intermediate sprint. Assuming he completes the stage in Paris, he will be the race’s green jersey.

The queen stage - the name given to the hilliest of the race - had never before been left as late as the penultimate day. With almost 5500m of climbing spread across four huge ascents, it was one for the mountain goats. And Pedersen.

‘Take a bow’ – Pedersen all but seals green jersey with ‘super special’ display

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The Dane, desperate to secure the points jersey, needed to make it over the Col de la Croix de Fer close to the front in order to compete for the intermediate sprint at Saint Julien-Mont-Denis. Having missed the initial 14-rider break, by sheer force of will, Pedersen broke out of the bunch 5km from the summit, and drove his hefty frame across the gap.

As he was doing that, Carapaz was going in search of more mountains points, looking to add to his single-point lead. Tracked by Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), the Ecuadorian showed he had more depth and experience to turn the smallest advantage into a significant one. He and Paret-Peintre were caught by the chasers on the descent after which Pedersen, having completed the catch, clinched the green jersey with what could prove to be his final sprint of the three weeks.

Paret-Peintre tried to stay in touch with Carapaz but weakness revealed itself on the the Col du Telegraphe. After a number of efforts to come back to the group, he let the elastic snap. Behind, the intentions of the yellow jersey group were opaque. Did Pogacar want the stage, or not? UAE allowed the gap to grow to five minutes.

Carapaz, with support from team-mate Ben Healy, kept chugging away. He added 10 more mountains points, dipped down to the foot of the Galiber, then pressed on towards the highest point of the race. With 70km to go, Carapaz was left with just Healy, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) Kuss, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA-CGM) for company. Healy helped as long as he could, before dropping out of the group as the race passed 2000m altitude. Carapaz, born above 2800m himself, was the most active in the group, and deservedly claimed the Souvenir Henri Desgranges for first rider over the race’s highest point.

‘United to the last’ – Pogacar, Del Toro deliver special celebration at finish line

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Pogacar, meanwhile, began riding for his team-mate. The yellow jersey effectively assured, he turned himself into a domestique in order to make sure Ayuso did not displace Del Toro in the white jersey or on the podium. His effort also had the effect of hurting Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA-CGM).

On the descent of the Galibier, the front group was reduced to four, as Riccitello dropped back to assist his leader.

With 27km remaining, and the gap between groups at 3’40'', the stage was in the balance. Squabbles broke out between Ayuso, Kuss and Hindley, while Carapaz kept on with his own thing. Ayuso, who had appeared the weakest of them, gave it one big hit, which was easily countered by Hindley, then the Spaniard fell away. Carapaz, Kuss and Hindley traded blows until it seemed the American had won out. He had not.

Although Kuss crested the Col de Sarenne in the lead, Carapaz had not lost hope completely. When Kuss suffered two falls in short succession, the 2020 Olympic champion was perfectly placed to take advantage, riding past and then away. He began the final climb just one minute ahead of the yellow jersey group.

Behind, with Seixas having been well distanced by the legs of Del Toro on the Sarenne, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull) wanted to try for one last result for himself. Had he gone earlier, he might have been able to pull back Carapaz. As it was the best he could manage was second place. Equally, had Pogacar been prepared to leave the side of his team-mate, he might have claimed a sixth stage win for himself. He opted to cross the line with Del Toro instead, a fifth Tour de France title just a straightforward Parisien procession away.

16:48

WATCH: 'WHAT AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE' - CARAPAZ DELIVERS 'EPIC' RIDE TO WIN STAGE 20

‘What an incredible performance’ – Carapaz delivers ‘epic’ ride to win Stage 20

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16:47

WATCH: 'HEARTBREAK' - LATE DRAMA AS KUSS SUFFERS SECOND FALL IN QUICK SUCCESSION

‘Heartbreak’ – Late Stage drama as Kuss suffers SECOND fall in quick succession

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16:43

TADEJ POGACAR: I WON'T BE DOING THIS MUCH LONGER

"I did my best today to help Isaac. Juan [Ayuso] put us a bit under pressure in the front but yeah, massive respect for what all of the guys have been doing the last three weeks," Pogacar said. "I finally experienced it myself. I already appreciated the work of my team-mates, but now it’s like another level and I must say thanks to every single one of them for working so hard.

"It was goosebumps - if I didn’t shave my arms! - and one for the memories.

"I definitely will not be doing this for too much longer, I think. Isaac shows great potential but we don’t put pressure on him. He’s still young, but a quick learner, super smart, big talent, big engine. Let’s see where the road takes us. I’m happy to be with him in the team and ride like this together.

"It’s a shame Wout [Van Aert, winner of final stage in 2025] is not here for Paris, but it’s going to be messy. I just want to enjoy it."

16:19

TADEJ POGACAR V MATHIEU VAN DER POEL ON SUNDAY?

Image credit: From Official Website

I do hope so.

16:13

MADS PEDERSEN TAKE A BOW

1. Mads Pedersen 527 points
2. Jasper Philipsen 445
3. Biniam Girmay 361
4. Max Kanter 271
5. Olav Kooij 230

80% of that 527 came from intermediate sprints. That's what doing it the hard way looks like.

Image credit: Getty Images

16:07

SUNDAY'S PARISIEN FINALE SET TO BE SHORTENED

⚠️ JOINT PRESS RELEASE

from the Police Prefecture and the Tour de France organizing team ⚠️

With numerous wildfires currently affecting France—and the Gironde region in particular—emergency services are fully mobilized to fight the blazes, while internal security forces are helping to secure the affected areas and protect the population.

Against this backdrop, the Minister of the Interior has decided to redeploy some of the internal security forces originally assigned to secure the final stage of the Tour de France, in order to reinforce the resources deployed in the fire-stricken areas.

In a spirit of national solidarity with the affected regions and communities, it has been decided to modify the route of the final stage from Thoiry to Paris on Sunday, July 26, 2026.

Consequently:

- The route for Stage 21 has been shortened to 89 km, down from the originally planned 133 km.

- The publicity caravan is scheduled to depart from Thoiry at 1:20 PM; following the parade, it will leave Thoiry and head directly to the final circuit in Paris.

- Team presentations will take place at 3:40 PM; after the presentation, the riders will travel directly to the final circuit in Paris by bus.

- The official race start will be given at the finish line at 5:50 PM; riders will complete two additional laps of the Champs-Élysées before heading to the Montmartre circuit, with the finish scheduled for 7:45 PM.

The Police Prefect and the Tour de France Director commend the dedication of all those mobilized to fight the fires and express their full solidarity with the affected populations. They thank the riders, teams, local authorities, partners, and the public for their understanding regarding these exceptional measures necessitated by the situation.

16:00

RICHARD CARAPAZ, TAKE A BOW

Two stage wins, the King of the Mountains, and eighth overall. For most riders that would be a palmares to be proud of. For Richard Carapaz it is a week at the office.

His sports director, Charlie Wegelius, sums it up in one word:

"Perseverance. He just kept on going. Kuss obviously went once, managed to get him back, managed to get him the other time when he was just holding him, and clawing back a few seconds here and there. He just never gave up. Richie and the whole team spent an enormous amount of energy to achieve the [KOM] goal, and then we had to reset and focus on the stage, mid-stage. Once again, Ben did an amazing job, flipping the race on its head and making the gap reasonable. You see at the finish we needed all the time we could get."

15:53

OVERALL TOP 10 HEADING TO PARIS

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Pidcock hangs on, so does Jordan Jegat. Pogacar conceded 45 seconds to Evenepoel with bonus seconds, but make no mistake, that was a choice. He's a great rider, but he's pretty good at PR, too.

15:52

STAGE 20 TOP 10

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15:43

SEIXAS FINISHES WITH SKJELMOSE AND AYUSO

At 2'54 on Carapaz, the youngest rider in 89 years to even take part in the Tour de France, has done enough to finish 4th. Yes, there were moments when it seemed he might fly higher, but he has more than handled the pressure. Where will he go from here?