Tour de France Stage 19. Tadej Pogacar Sets Record Time up Alpe d’ Huez
The Tour stage today, stage 19, featured one of the most famous climbs in all of cycling up Alpe d’Huez. Tadej Pogacar won the stage today and expanded his overall lead. There was a large breakaway, but he caught it as the stage ended.
More amazing is that Pogacar broke Marco Pantani’s record for the ascent of Alpe d’Huez by one minute and forty-five seconds. That record had stood since 1997. It was an impressive win. As riders prepare for another hard day tomorrow, is there anyone who can challenge Pogacar?
Tour de France Stage 19 Summary
The big story from today’s Tour stage was the victory and record set by Tadej Pogacar ( internal link) up the Alpe d’ Huez. He did not just set the record; he crushed it. It is fair to wonder whether he can repeat his performance tomorrow.
However, the performance of Pogacar was not the only big story from the day. It is also the case that there were three Americans in the top 10 of the stage. They were Sepp Kuss, Matthew Rigatello, and Mateo Jorgensen. An American has not won a Tour stage in several years, but the results today were highly encouraging.
The third big story of the day was the continued aggressive riding of Ricard Carapaz. The EF Education rider has been in the breakaway on virtually every mountain stage as he hunts for points in the King of the Mountain competition. Carapaz and Lenny Martinez were caught today by Pogacar with less than two kilometers to the top. He launched his attack with twelve kilometers remaining in the iconic stage.
Carapaz, who won yesterday’s tour stage, finished third today, 9 seconds off the pace. He did do enough, however, to take the lead in the polka dot jersey race by one point over Pogacar. Carapaz took the jersey from Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre. Carapaz won the climb up the Col d’Orion, and the Frenchman was nowhere to be seen as the leading group B had struck to just 15 riders.
Pogacar’s Dominant Win
The victory for Pogacar was just his first up the historic climb. However, it was his fifth stage victory of this Tour and was his twenty-sixth stage victory overall. The star Slovenian is within spitting distance of his record-tying fifth win of the Tour de France. There is just one tough mountain stage tomorrow, and then there is the ceremonial ride into Paris.
In his victory, Pogacar set, actually crushed, the record time up the iconic Alpe d’Huez. He went up the switchbacks one minute and forty-five seconds faster than any human had done before. In the process, he destroyed a nearly thirty-year-old record and probably won his fifth Tour de France. He leads by more than seven minutes.
Some time ago, during this edition of the Tour de France, it was popular to consider whether Tadej Pogacar is the greatest bicycle rider ever at the time. He did not compare favorably to Eddy Meryxx, called the Cannibal; the man had some awesome achievements. Pogacar, with his resounding win today, is building his resume. He probably still does not stack up to the cannibal, but his list of achievements is growing. All he needs at this point is longevity. He is signed with the UAE Emirates team through 2030.
Conclusion
Stage 19 was a riveting stage of the Tour de France. There was an iconic climb and a record set by Tadej Pogacar. Barring calamity, he won his fifth iconic race. However, before he is crowned, there is one more extremely difficult stage. Stage 20, tomorrow, features more than eighteen thousand meters of vertical climbing. There are three beyond categorization climbs. The trip from Le Bourg-d’Oisans to Alp d’Huez is only 170,9 kilometers long, but is up and down all day. The race profile is intimidating.
