OFFICIAL Stage 19 Results
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Tour de France Gamers!
STAGE Grade: B
I rate today’s stage a B. It’s l’Alpe d’Huez. Don’t miss it. But there wasn’t much of a surprise or general classification impact. LLenny Martinez hanging on to Tadej Pogačar’s wheel to catch Richard Carapaz was the only surprise, I think; and his move in the GC was the only noteworthy.
Route: 5/5 GC: 3/5 Tactics: 2/5 Sprint: 1/5 Surprises: 1/5
In the year 2000 Miguel Martinez won Olympic gold in the mountain bike race in Sydney. In the year 2026 Miguel Martinez was standing just uphill from virage 4 on the climb of l’Alpe d’Huez. He had two water bottles. One to give to his son, Lenny, and one to douse him with. That’s what he did. A father taking care of his cycling son. We can relate. Lenny finished third today, Miguel had to climb all the way up. Or if he parked in the village of Huez, he had to wait until after midnight when the road reopens to car traffic. It was a madhouse on the Alpe today.
In the aftermath of the race, I saw several riders going down and in the opposite direction. The organizers have them wear special vests, so you can tell they’re bona fide riders. Sepp Kuss was interviewed in that outfit, looking even more ridiculous than a cyclist already does. I also saw riders not wearing those vests. They just turned around as soon as they crossed the line, out of reach of the officials.
I find that amusing.
L’Alpe D’Huez has 84 ski lifts. With 1,600 meters to go, already past turn 1 of the climb, Tadej Pogačar, Richard Carapaz, and Martinez crossed the Télécentre I mentioned yesterday. It was running, like I said, but it was empty. A missed opportunity: exactly at that moment Pogačar placed an attack to win the stage. Both Carapaz and Martinez could hold on, but a hairpin later the riders crossed the ski lift again, now 900 meters from the finish. Pogačar accelerated again and this time dropped Carapaz and Martinez. There you have it, ski lifts matter.
Pogačar won the most prestigious climb in cycling. As the world champion. To my knowledge, that’s never been done before. Fausto Coppi won this stage in 1952, he was world champion in 1953. Joop Zoetemelk won in 1976 and 1979, world champion in 1985. Hennie Kuiper won in 1977 and 1978, after his world’s title in 1975. Gianni Bugno won in 1990 and 1991, then became the world champion in 1991 and 1992.
And Lance Armstrong was the 1993 world champion and won l’Alpe d’Huez in 2001 and 2004.
Of those riders, Kuiper and Tadej Pogačar is the only one who’s never known to have used doping to achieve this feat. We live in remarkable times.
In the first three kilometers of the climb, Pogačar gained 50 seconds on the leaders, including Carapaz and Martinez. He passed someone from the breakaway, who looked up at him. Pogačar said a few kind words to him. The world champion was not out of breath. Remarkable times.
Totally out of breath for the entire race, if not the entire 2026 Tour de France, was Mads Pedersen. We cannot overstate how much respect the Dane deserves. He probably secured the green jersey today, if he makes it to the Champs-Élysées. And he fought for it harder than any green jersey winner ever fought for it (with the exception maybe of Djamolodine Abdoujaparov in 1991). Again he survived (and instigated) in the breakaway group that went over the category 1 climb, so he could be the only sprinter in the intermediate sprint.
After that he sat up. Michael Matthews wheeled over and hugged him, to the extent that cyclists can do that while riding. Then he took the bus home. I saw him cross the finish line, almost half an hour behind Pogačar. I hope he enjoyed his victory lap. At least he wouldn’t have had to pedal up l’Alpe d’Huez, there were enough spectators to push him.
The time limit today was 37 minutes. Not a lot, although exactly what we expected. It’s hard to say how big the grupetto was that ended with Per Strand Hagenes, 33 minutes down. Only four minutes to spare.
If you ever have the opportunity to watch a stage like today in the valley, wait until the voiture balai comes by. The broom wagon. Ahead of it is the big grupetto of the day. Racing through the valley. The grupetto on a stage like this goes through the valley faster than the leaders. Forty, fifty riders can easily maintain 50 km/h. And they need that to stay inside the time limit. On the climbs they may dial it back a little, on the flats they drop the hammer down.
It’s a shame we never get to see that on TV.
The time limit today was 37 minutes. Not a lot, although exactly what we expected. It’s hard to say how big the grupetto was that ended with Per Strand Hagenes, 33 minutes down. Only four minutes to spare.
Hagenes is our focus rider, courtesy of Team Cameron*. He’s 23 and won four races in his career. Three in 2023, and the next only in 2026, the Antwerp Port Epic. He came to the 2026 Tour de France with a clear objective: help Jonas Vingegaard win the whole thing. Without Vingegaard, there’s not much for him to do other than join the big grupetto of the day.
If you ever have the opportunity to watch a stage like today in the valley, wait until the voiture balai comes by. The broom wagon. Ahead of it is that big grupetto. Racing through the valley. Racing! The grupetto on a stage like this goes through the valley faster than the leaders. Forty, fifty riders can easily maintain 50 km/h. And they need that to stay inside the time limit. On the climbs they may dial it back a little, on the flats they drop the hammer down.
It’s a shame we never get to see that on TV.
Watch the final kilometer HERE.
Watch the FloBikes highlights HERE.
Watch NBC Sports’ Extended highlights HERE.
Read the TNT Sports report HERE.
Spoiler alert: There were no changes in the standings today.
With help from Carapaz and Martinez, Team Tadej clawed back a couple of points today. Most points from classifications and most points overall: they beat Team Ansel who had most points from the stage, and most riders in the Top-25 (eight).
Team Hugo took third and the rest followed at a distance. Team Josh in fourth, Team Caleb and Team Matthew sharing fifth, Team Wesley in seventh. Team Charles in eight, Team Oliver in ninth. Team Amalia tenth, Team Cameron eleventh, and Team Grace missed the boat today, twelfth.
In the juniors competition, Team Ansel is holding all the cards to victory. The key difference between them and Team Tadej is Mattias Skjelmose (Team Ansel) vs Lenny Martinez (Team Tadej). There’s not going to be a 100-point swing between these two riders. We can believe that Team Ansel will win the juniors game.
The situation with all teams including adults is more tight. Here, Team Kari and Team Kent both have Lenny Martinez and Richard Carapaz. Team Kari is going to outscore Team Ansel* by about 20 points. The real gap between the leaders is therefore around 60 points. Today, they gained 30 points. To do better on Saturday, they need another stellar performance from Martinez and Carapaz, and poor rides from Skjelmose and Tobias Halland Johannessen. Those are the riders to watch during stage 20.
|
Team |
Good if these riders do well: |
Bad if these riders do well: |
|
Team Ansel* |
Skjelmose, Johannessen, Yates |
Carapaz, Martinez |
|
Team Kent |
Carapaz, Martinez |
Skjelmose, Johannessen, Yates |
|
Team Kari |
Carapaz, Martinez, Simmons |
Arensman, Skjelmose, Johannessen, Yates |
Stage 19 will once again finish on l’Alpe d’Huez, but they will be coming from the Col de Sarenne instead, joining the classic climb just after virage 4. When they get there, the peloton will have climbed three hors-catégorie climbs and one category 1. It is complete murder.
Tadej Pogačar has said that he’ll do everything he can to help Isaac del Toro. That could be true, and then a possible breakaway could be decisive. Perhaps Richard Carapaz can try again, but if Pogačar is serious about his commitment, then that opens the door to Remco Evenepoel, Paul Seixas., and Lenny Martinez. Perhaps even Mattias Skjelmose.
Not for the first time, Pogačar will decide or at least influence who’ll win the stage. If he wants to win, he’ll win it. His riding will decide Carapaz’ fate: he wants to win the KOM jersey, and Pogačar is the only real threat. Let’s say Pogačar doesn’t ride for himself, then Carapaz can be mathematically certain of the KOM jersey before they reach the Col de Sarenne. He might not feel the need to win the stage.
Seixas wants to beat del Toro. If Pogačar decides to help del Toro, then Seixas doesn’t have a chance. Not to pass del Toro, not to win the stage.
Skjelmose has a chance to pass Martinez. That would be a good reason to race hard, but I don’t think he has the legs. But if he tries, then Martinez has a good reason to race hard as well. And then he’ll win the stage.
A lot of deliberations. I’ll spin the roulette wheel and say: Martinez will win stage 20.
Standings after stage 19:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
4439 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Tadej* |
4263 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Josh* |
4179 |
3 |
0 |
|
4 |
Team Hugo* |
4010 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Charles* |
3701 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Caleb* |
3562 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Matthew* |
3486 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Oliver* |
3292 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Amalia* |
2997 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Wesley* |
2516 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Grace* |
1600 |
11 |
0 |
|
12 |
Team Cameron* |
1411 |
12 |
0 |
Standings after stage 19 (including dogs and adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
4439 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Kent |
4351 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Kari |
4322 |
3 |
0 |
|
4 |
Team Tadej* |
4263 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Amelia |
4255 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Josh* |
4179 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Melanie |
4149 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Eric |
4125 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Rob |
4077 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Kurt |
4076 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Hugo* |
4010 |
11 |
0 |
|
12 |
Team Jon |
3989 |
12 |
0 |
|
13 |
Team Craig |
3951 |
13 |
0 |
|
14 |
Team Jonwaine |
3948 |
15 |
1 |
|
15 |
Team Julie |
3935 |
14 |
-1 |
|
16 |
Team Laurens |
3763 |
16 |
0 |
|
17 |
Team Charles* |
3701 |
17 |
0 |
|
18 |
Team Ed |
3618 |
18 |
0 |
|
19 |
Team Corsa |
3609 |
19 |
0 |
|
20 |
Team Caleb* |
3562 |
20 |
0 |
|
21 |
Team Ambrose |
3503 |
21 |
0 |
|
22 |
Team Matthew* |
3486 |
22 |
0 |
|
23 |
Team Grace |
3393 |
24 |
1 |
|
24 |
Team Kate |
3364 |
23 |
-1 |
|
25 |
Team Ellie |
3296 |
26 |
1 |
|
26 |
Team Oliver* |
3292 |
25 |
-1 |
|
27 |
Team Cameron |
3262 |
26 |
-1 |
|
28 |
Team Jonathan |
3223 |
28 |
0 |
|
29 |
Team Charlotte |
3191 |
29 |
0 |
|
30 |
Team Adam |
3131 |
30 |
0 |
|
31 |
Team Amalia* |
2997 |
31 |
0 |
|
32 |
Team Erin |
2948 |
33 |
1 |
|
33 |
Team Suzanne |
2947 |
32 |
-1 |
|
34 |
Team Furner |
2905 |
34 |
0 |
|
35 |
Team Lichterman |
2734 |
36 |
1 |
|
36 |
Team Allison |
2713 |
35 |
-1 |
|
37 |
Team Wesley* |
2516 |
38 |
1 |
|
38 |
Team Wesley |
2491 |
37 |
-1 |
|
39 |
Team Chris |
2486 |
39 |
0 |
|
40 |
Team Senna# |
2354 |
40 |
0 |
|
41 |
Team Izzy |
2344 |
41 |
0 |
|
42 |
Team Valerie |
1658 |
42 |
0 |
|
43 |
Team Grace* |
1600 |
43 |
0 |
|
44 |
Team Cameron* |
1411 |
44 |
0 |
|
45 |
Team Sam |
1293 |
45 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 19:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
YELLOW JERSEY |
GREEN JERSEY |
POLKA DOT JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
96 |
27 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
43 |
139 |
2858 |
2997 |
|
Team Ansel* |
160 |
45 |
13 |
6 |
11 |
75 |
235 |
4204 |
4439 |
|
Team Caleb* |
121 |
36 |
9 |
6 |
9 |
60 |
181 |
3381 |
3562 |
|
Team Cameron* |
92 |
17 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
27 |
119 |
1292 |
1411 |
|
Team Charles* |
97 |
36 |
13 |
6 |
9 |
64 |
161 |
3540 |
3701 |
|
Team Grace* |
42 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
62 |
1538 |
1600 |
|
Team Hugo* |
148 |
41 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
75 |
223 |
3787 |
4010 |
|
Team Josh* |
120 |
40 |
13 |
6 |
11 |
70 |
190 |
3989 |
4179 |
|
Team Matthew* |
121 |
36 |
9 |
6 |
9 |
60 |
181 |
3305 |
3486 |
|
Team Oliver* |
102 |
30 |
12 |
9 |
2 |
53 |
155 |
3137 |
3292 |
|
Team Tadej* |
158 |
46 |
12 |
7 |
14 |
79 |
237 |
4026 |
4263 |
|
Team Wesley* |
119 |
39 |
0 |
6 |
9 |
54 |
173 |
2343 |
2516 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 19 (including dogs and adults):
|
96 |
31 |
7 |
7 |
11 |
56 |
152 |
2979 |
3131 |
|
|
Team Allison |
106 |
27 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
53 |
159 |
2554 |
2713 |
|
Team Amalia* |
96 |
27 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
43 |
139 |
2858 |
2997 |
|
Team Ambrose |
97 |
36 |
13 |
6 |
9 |
64 |
161 |
3342 |
3503 |
|
Team Amelia |
177 |
49 |
10 |
7 |
15 |
81 |
258 |
3997 |
4255 |
|
Team Ansel* |
160 |
45 |
13 |
6 |
11 |
75 |
235 |
4204 |
4439 |
|
Team Caleb* |
121 |
36 |
9 |
6 |
9 |
60 |
181 |
3381 |
3562 |
|
Team Cameron |
115 |
34 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
60 |
175 |
3087 |
3262 |
|
Team Cameron* |
92 |
17 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
27 |
119 |
1292 |
1411 |
|
Team Charles* |
97 |
36 |
13 |
6 |
9 |
64 |
161 |
3540 |
3701 |
|
Team Charlotte |
133 |
36 |
4 |
13 |
12 |
67 |
200 |
2991 |
3191 |
|
Team Chris |
102 |
28 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
42 |
144 |
2342 |
2486 |
|
Team Corsa |
134 |
38 |
12 |
6 |
11 |
67 |
201 |
3408 |
3609 |
|
Team Craig |
140 |
39 |
12 |
9 |
11 |
71 |
211 |
3740 |
3951 |
|
Team Ed |
97 |
36 |
12 |
6 |
9 |
63 |
160 |
3458 |
3618 |
|
Team Ellie |
143 |
34 |
12 |
11 |
7 |
66 |
209 |
3087 |
3296 |
|
Team Eric |
142 |
43 |
12 |
14 |
11 |
82 |
224 |
3901 |
4125 |
|
Team Erin |
168 |
37 |
3 |
12 |
7 |
61 |
229 |
2719 |
2948 |
|
Team Furner |
143 |
34 |
4 |
9 |
12 |
61 |
204 |
2701 |
2905 |
|
Team Grace |
139 |
36 |
12 |
11 |
7 |
68 |
207 |
3186 |
3393 |
|
Team Grace* |
42 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
62 |
1538 |
1600 |
|
Team Hugo* |
148 |
41 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
75 |
223 |
3787 |
4010 |
|
Team Izzy |
104 |
21 |
9 |
9 |
5 |
46 |
150 |
2194 |
2344 |
|
Team Jon |
144 |
44 |
12 |
7 |
14 |
77 |
221 |
3768 |
3989 |
|
Team Jonathan |
177 |
38 |
0 |
6 |
7 |
51 |
228 |
2995 |
3223 |
|
Team Jonwaine |
204 |
54 |
0 |
12 |
14 |
82 |
286 |
3662 |
3948 |
|
Team Josh* |
120 |
40 |
13 |
6 |
11 |
70 |
190 |
3989 |
4179 |
|
Team Julie |
156 |
43 |
12 |
11 |
11 |
79 |
235 |
3700 |
3935 |
|
Team Kari |
172 |
49 |
12 |
12 |
14 |
89 |
261 |
4061 |
4322 |
|
Team Kate |
106 |
28 |
12 |
11 |
2 |
55 |
161 |
3203 |
3364 |
|
Team Kent |
176 |
49 |
12 |
12 |
14 |
89 |
265 |
4086 |
4351 |
|
Team Kurt |
175 |
48 |
13 |
15 |
12 |
90 |
265 |
3811 |
4076 |
|
Team Laurens |
144 |
46 |
5 |
11 |
11 |
75 |
219 |
3544 |
3763 |
|
Team Lichterman |
149 |
28 |
12 |
5 |
7 |
52 |
201 |
2533 |
2734 |
|
Team Matthew* |
121 |
36 |
9 |
6 |
9 |
60 |
181 |
3305 |
3486 |
|
Team Melanie |
150 |
41 |
13 |
11 |
11 |
78 |
228 |
3921 |
4149 |
|
Team Oliver* |
102 |
30 |
12 |
9 |
2 |
53 |
155 |
3137 |
3292 |
|
Team Rob |
138 |
45 |
12 |
6 |
11 |
74 |
212 |
3865 |
4077 |
|
Team Sam |
52 |
17 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
25 |
77 |
1216 |
1293 |
|
Team Senna# |
85 |
21 |
9 |
6 |
0 |
36 |
121 |
2233 |
2354 |
|
Team Suzanne |
137 |
36 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
54 |
191 |
2756 |
2947 |
|
Team Tadej* |
158 |
46 |
12 |
7 |
14 |
79 |
237 |
4026 |
4263 |
|
Team Valerie |
37 |
10 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
23 |
60 |
1598 |
1658 |
|
Team Wesley |
107 |
24 |
9 |
6 |
0 |
39 |
146 |
2345 |
2491 |
|
Team Wesley* |
119 |
39 |
0 |
6 |
9 |
54 |
173 |
2343 |
2516 |
Allez le Tour!
-Laurens.