Carapaz had been battling it out with Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) for the stage win for a long time. The two were the last remaining riders from a breakaway group. The American even crossed the Col de Sarenne with a 20-second lead heading into the final 15 kilometres of the stage, but crashed twice on a descent. Carapaz overtook him and secured his second stage win in this tour, having already claimed victory on the mountain finish at Orcières-Merlette two days earlier and also finished third on Stage 19, just nine seconds behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) just nine seconds behind Tadej Pogacar.

Meanwhile, the man in yellow voluntarily gave up his chances of another stage win, as he stayed with his team-mate Isaac Del Toro in the final stretch and accompanied the 22-year-old right to the finish line. That more could have been achieved was demonstrated by Evenepoel, who rode in the Pogacar group for a long time before launching his attack on Alpe d’Huez, thereby at least catching Kuss 200 metres from the finish. He finished 26 seconds behind Carapaz.

The overall standings remain unchanged

The stage, which started in Le Bourg d’Oisans and featured 5,450 metres of climbing – described by Tour director Christian Prudhomme as the most difficult in the modern history of the Tour – had no further impact on the general classification. Pogacar, who crossed the finish line 1 minute and 5 seconds behind Carapaz, defended the yellow jersey with a lead of almost six and a half minutes over Evenepoel. Del Toro remains third and thus retains the white jersey. His fiercest rival, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), suffered a setback on the penultimate day of the race, losing just under two minutes to his rivals, but defended fourth place in the general classification ahead of Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) and the Lidl-Trek duo Mattias Skjelmose and Juan Ayuso.

Carapaz follows in eighth place, having also sealed the outcome of the battle for the mountains’ jersey during the stage. His main rival, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), was forced to throw in the towel early on in the stage, whilst the stage winner also kept Pogacar at bay.

“I think I’ve earned the mountains jersey today,” said Carapaz after his victory. “I really struggled on the final kilometres up to Alpe d’Huez, but in the end it’s wonderful to win here,” said the 33-year-old. “It’s been a wonderful Tour for me. Back in Barcelona, I wouldn’t have thought we’d be in contention for the general classification. But we’ve managed to take the jersey and win a few stages.”

Meanwhile, in the battle for the points classification, Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) has also sealed the deal. The Dane now only needs to finish the final stage to take the green jersey home with him.

2026 Tour de France – Results of Stage 20

Here’s how the 20th stage of the 2026 Tour de France unfolded

Shortly after the start, a six-man breakaway group broke away from the peloton without much resistance. Georg Steinhauser (EF Education - EasyPost), Warren Barguil (Team Picnic PostNL), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Joris Delbove (TotalEnergies) managed to build up a 70-second lead before the start of the climb up the Col de la Croix de Fer (HC).

However, before the climb was even halfway through, an initial chasing group broke away from the completely fragmented peloton. The two contenders for the mountains’ jersey, Carapaz and Paret-Peintre, were among them, as was the entire climbing contingent from Visma | Lease a Bike and Ayuso. With 3.5 kilometres to go to the summit, the leading group of 14 riders had a one-minute lead over the group containing the general classification favourites.

At the point 3.5 kilometres from the summit, Carapaz launched an attack. The Ecuadorian was targeting the mountain points. As he had always come off second best against Paret-Peintre in the sprint, this time he took the long route, which ultimately led him to victory. On the long descent, the pair then took it easy, allowing the chasers to close the gap again. Among them was now Pedersen, who had previously dropped back from the group contesting the yellow jersey, but managed to catch up and overtake them on the climb before joining the front group.

Pedersen secures the green jersey, Carapaz the mountains jersey

Once they reached the bottom of the valley, just past Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Pedersen secured the points he needed in the sprint, which mathematically guaranteed him the Green Jersey. But then the climb began again straight away. The Col du Télégraphe (1st category) loomed ahead. It wasn’t just Pedersen who fell behind there. Paret-Peintre was also unable to keep up, putting Carapaz in the ideal position to challenge for the King of the Mountains jersey. The group of favourites was four minutes behind at the start of the climb.

At the top of the Télégraphe, no one challenged Carapaz for the points. After a short descent, the riders tackled the Col du Galibier (HC). 4.5 kilometres from the summit, Carapaz went on the attack once more and broke away from the leading group. Only Kuss, Jai Hindley (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) were able to keep up. At the summit, Carapaz once again secured the points – and the Henri Desgrange souvenir.

Meanwhile, the group of favourites was five and a half minutes behind when Pogacar took the lead of the group and broke it up. Only Evenepoel, Seixas, Martinez and Del Toro were able to keep up.

Pogacar does the chasing

Whilst Riccitello lost touch with the leaders on the descent, Ayuso managed to rejoin them. As they approached the Col de Sarenne (HC), the group was just under four minutes behind Pogacar. With 27 kilometres still to go, the route headed uphill again. Ten kilometres from the summit, Hindley attacked; by then, his lead over the group of favourites had already shrunk to 2 minutes 30 seconds. Kuss, who went with him, then pulled away from the Australian, who in turn was joined by Carapaz.

At the back, Pogacar had been riding alone at the front for 30 kilometres, but eventually handed over to Decathlon. And the French riders once again chipped away at the lead of the front group, which was now back to a trio, as Hindley and Carapaz had rejoined Kuss five kilometres before the summit. The American then stepped up a gear, however, and pulled away by a few seconds once more.

Del Toro then took the lead. Seixas could no longer keep up with the increased pace, but everyone else stayed in the race.

Kuss takes a tumble and misses out on victory, but escapes with his life

Kuss reached the mountain classification 14 kilometres from the finish, 20 seconds ahead of Carapaz, whilst the group chasing the yellow jersey arrived two minutes later. Whilst it remained a close contest between Kuss and Carapaz right up to the finish, the group behind them was unable to close the gap.

On the final descent – just before the route joined the original route to Alpe d’Huez, three hairpin bends from the finish – Kuss crashed twice. The second time, a safety net saved his life. Carapaz sped past and headed for the finish line with a lead of a few seconds as the race entered the final kilometres uphill.

Three kilometres from the finish, Evenepoel then left Pogacar and Del Toro behind, whilst the Slovenian waited for the Mexican. Kuss managed to catch up with Evenepoel, but he couldn’t catch Carapaz.