Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar celebrates after winning win the 19th stage of the 2026 Tour de France. Tadej Pogacartook a decisive victory amidst a “crazy atmosphere” on Alpe d’Huez after a long and tense chase up the iconic final mountain climb of Friday’s 19th stage of theTour de France. Having launched his attack with 12 km left, the reigning champion finally caught Richard Carapaz and Lenny Martinez inside the final two kilometres.
“It’s very cool to win up here — it was a crazy atmosphere, all the climbing,” said Pogacar. “It was thanks to all the team that I could pull it off in the end. “I was riding for the team-mates today and it was a great victory,” he said.
Several of Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mates have been suffering with illness, and Brandon McNulty abandoned the race on Thursday with flu-like symptoms. Pogacar had made up close to three and a half minutes since the foot of the climb, and he wasted little time in leaving the pair in his wake, dropping them with just 800 metres left. “We were going full gas all day and then at the beginning, the first kilometre of Alpe d’Huez, I knew that it’s cool, I have good legs and there’s not many guys left that maybe can follow or try to go with me,” said the race leader.
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It was a fifth stage victory this year for the 27-year-old Slovenian and a 26th in total since the four-time winner’s Tour debut in 2020. And, incredibly, it was Pogacar’s first stage victory on Alpe d’Huez — a remarkable statistic for a man who has dominated cycling for the last six years.
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