Pogacar launched his attack 11.7 kilometres from the finish – quite early on the final climb of the stage from Gap, which was just 128 kilometres long. In the small group containing the other favourites, no one made a move as the 27-year-old increased the pace and pulled away. Pogacar had to make up a good three minutes to catch up with the leading group, which at that point still consisted of Carapaz, Martinez and Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike).

Three kilometres from the finish, Pogacar caught Kuss, followed shortly afterwards by Martinez, who remained on his wheel. The pair then caught up with Carapaz 1,700 metres from the finish. Around 800 metres from the finish, on a relatively flat section, Pogacar then pulled away from the two climbing specialists, leaving them in his slipstream, and rode to victory. In doing so, he broke Marco Pantani’s 1995 Alpe d’Huez record – which stood at 36 minutes 50 seconds over 13.8 kilometres – setting a new time of 35 minutes 27 seconds.

Carapaz takes the King of the Mountains jersey

Whilst Pogacar thus further extended his lead in the general classification, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), but also slightly extend his own lead. He reached the day’s finish in sixth place, twelve seconds ahead of the Mexican and a further four seconds ahead of the Frenchman, meaning that second, third and fourth places in the general classification also remained unchanged. Martinez is now in fifth place, however, having moved up two places thanks to the breakaway group. The same applies to Carapaz, who is now eighth.

The Ecuadorian is also the new holder of the mountains jersey and now leads with 91 points, one ahead of Pogacar and seven ahead of Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), who was originally part of the breakaway but faded dramatically towards the end. Whilst the battle for the polka-dot jersey has thus been postponed until the queen stage, Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) is now all but certain to take the green jersey. The Dane was also part of the breakaway and once again won the intermediate sprint, giving him a comfortable lead.

2026 Tour de France – Results of Stage 19

Here’s how the 19th stage of the 2026 Tour de France unfolded

A full-throttle start out of Gap. Right from kilometre zero, the riders faced a 4.7-kilometre climb with an average gradient of more than seven per cent. The first stage belonged to Paret-Peintre and Carapaz, who battled it out for the mountain points, with the Frenchman coming out on top. Shortly afterwards, however, a large leading group of more than 40 riders broke away. Alongside the two rivals for the mountains’ jersey, the group included Martinez, seventh in the general classification, less than 13 minutes behind Pogacar. Pedersen had also managed to make it into the group once again.

There was also a sprint for the mountain points at the Col du Noyer (1st category). Paret-Peintre once again came out on top in the duel. On the descent, the leading group extended their lead to three and a half minutes. The gap stabilised at around that level for the next few kilometres; however, by the time of the intermediate sprint – where no one dared to spoil Pedersen’s party – the gap had widened to 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Pogacar goes on the offensive early on

Shortly afterwards, Paret-Peintre was unexpectedly forced to let the group go. On the climb to the Col d’Ornon (2nd category), however, the leading group shrank considerably; 14 riders reached the summit, with Carapaz crossing the line first. The group carried a three-and-a-half-minute lead into the 13.8-kilometre final climb to Alpe d’Huez. At the bottom, Arensman set the pace, with Carapaz, Martinez, Kuss, Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Javier Romo (Movistar Team) following.

However, with 11.7 kilometres to go, Pogacar went on the attack. None of the other favourites even attempted to keep up with him. At the front, Carapaz was not yet ready to admit defeat, whilst Martinez and Kuss refused to be left behind.

Seven kilometres from the finish, Pogacar had reduced the gap to the leaders to one and a half minutes. Evenepoel, Seixas and Del Toro were 1 minute 20 seconds behind the Slovenian at that point.

Carapaz and Martinez put up a long fight

Shortly before the 4-kilometre mark, Evenepoel attacked from the group fighting for second place. 1,000 metres later, Pogacar first caught Kuss, then Martinez shortly afterwards. Carapaz was caught 1,700 metres from the finish, but Martinez was still on Pogacar’s wheel at that point. Both managed to stay with him until 800 metres from the finish, but then, on the flat section, he left the climbers behind, who went on to finish second and third.

Two and a half minutes later, Evenepoel came through, having built up a lead of a few seconds over Del Toro and a few more over Skjelmose and Seixas.