OFFICIAL Stage 20 Results
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Tour de France Gamers!
STAGE Grade: A-
I rate today’s stage a A-.
Will Jones, writing for Cycling News, called the Col de Sarenne a “real climber's climb: narrow, undulating, with distinct phases and spectacular views.” I can’t disagree with any of that. It’s the first time we’ve gone up the Col de Sarenne in this direction. Some say we’ve gone down the Col de Sarenne before but never up — but I hesitate with that sentence. To go down it you must go up it, no? Truth is, between virage 4 and the summit of the Sarenne, it goes up and down a lot. The real climb is how we did it this time. In 2013 it was the other way, so the peloton could climb the OG l’Alpe d’Huez twice in one stage. That was down, today was up. Okay.
Spectacular views. About 12.5 km from the finish, after the Sarenne summit, the famed Sarenne ski run crosses the road. From right to left, into the valley, it then follows our route to Huez. The longest black ski run in Europe. You take a ski lift to ski the Sarenne run, but I won't mention that.
So that’s worth about 15 stars out of 5. In the end, the GC remained unchanged — but there were plenty of battles on the mountain, and nobody saw the ending coming.
Route: 5/5 GC: 2/5 Tactics: 3/5 Sprint: 1/5 Surprises: 5/5
He did it again. We live in remarkable times, he did it again. Mads Pedersen.
Do you have any idea how hard the Col de la Croix de Fer is? I know a few AAVC members who have done that, but I don’t think they’re reading this. So no, you probably don’t. Technically, we rode it the easy way today. From Rochetaillée, Cycling Cols doesn’t even rate it category 1. Why, I don’t know. It’s 32 kilometers at 4.2%, perhaps it’s the 4.2% that confuses them.
Sure, 4.2%. The first eight kilometers are flat, and then it goes up, 10% for six kilometers. By the time you reach Le Rivier d’Allemond, you’re crying, praying, and dying. But okay, the road drops down, it’s getting easier. Five kilometers, downhill at 4%, 5%, 6%. The only pain is in your hands from grabbing brakes. Two big hairpins on a 9% downgrade. You dare open your eyes again and you wish you hadn’t. The next kilometer is 11.5%, then a kilometer at 10%, and so it continues for nine kilometers. You’re no longer crying or praying, you died somewhere along this part of the climb.
There’s a stream here, le Rieu Claret. The road goes down, 4,5%, for three kilometers. You survived, this wasn’t bad. Your blood starts to flow, slowly. Some of your brain cells are coming back to life. They tell you what you didn’t want to know: the next five kilometers are a steady 7%.
Five kilometers. And this is the easy side, remember. Every tourist I’ve ever talked to who climbed the Croix de Fer told me they wanted to give up. Granted, they also all completed it. But this is a murderer of a climb. Yet it was the climb that was murdered today, and the perpetrator was Mads Pedersen.
On that initial climb, 10% for six kilometers, Pedersen was dropped by the peloton. He was riding with Marco Frigo and Simone Velasco. Trying to find a grupetto to get to the finish line today, hoping that his lead in the green jersey competition was enough. There’s nothing odd about that. On Sporza they were arguing. One said, “I don’t rule anything out with Pedersen,” the other said “look at the profile, Pedersen is smart enough not to try anything today.” Fair enough.
Almost a minute Pedersen lost on that climb, and then the remarkable happened. Halfway through the second climb, where you die, Pedersen had caught the peloton. There were fourteen riders ahead of him. I wish I knew what he was thinking. Did he know that the Montmartre climbs might be canceled on Sunday? That Stage 21 could be a Champs-Élysées criterium, and Jasper Philipsen could easily erase the deficit there?
I don’t know, but he decided to attack. Catch the leaders before they went into the valley, take 25 points at the intermediate sprint, and secure the green jersey once and for all. All he had to do is climb the final five kilometers faster than anyone else in the race. That’s all he had to do.
And that’s what he did. I call this the greatest climbing effort of the 2026 Tour de France. When he came across the top, he was still behind the leaders. But he had made his pact with fate. He rejoined in the valley, he won the intermediate sprint. Then he sat up, found his grupetto, and finished 124th, more than 40 minutes behind the riders he just beat in the intermediate sprint.
We live in remarkable times.
There was a lot of remarkable racing in today’s stage that I can’t completely cover. Tadej Pogačar did what he said he would and guided Isaac del Toro to third place overall. Del Toro was visibly out of dilithium crystals today, without Pogačar’s help he might have cracked completely.
Tiesj Benoot, Nicolas Prodhomme, and Matthew Riccitello tried to help Paul Seixas today, but he had cracked beyond help. Week three of a grand tour and a nineteen-year-old body. The French are disappointed but a fourth place for Seixas as an immense accomplishment.
Remco Evenepoel bemoaned his late decision to attack. I think he didn’t realize how spent del Toro was. Attacking five kilometers sooner he would definitely have caught Richard Carapaz. And he would have caught Sepp Kuss, given that Kuss crashed twice.
“If you’re fast, you’re not smart,” we learn in our training. Kuss had been too fast. He was so exhausted that even “not smart” was out of reach. He was plain dumb. To be fair, his first crash was in a tricky section. You dive into what looks like a parking garage (it is a parking garage!) and as you come out have to make a sharp left turn. Kuss’ brain wasn’t ready for that. Social media footage shows that he came out of that parking garage at full speed with no intention to turn. So he crashed.
And then he began to doubt himself. That second crash was a classic “I’m scared, let’s turn in early” mistake. If you turn in late and make the apex, nothing bad will happen. Perhaps you lose a little time. Turn in early and make the apex, you run out of corner, 100% of the time. That’s what happened to Kuss, we could all see it as we watched, but we couldn’t stop it. A tragic turn of events for Kuss. All that work for nothing, plus he got fined 1,500 Swiss francs and 60 seconds in the general classification for littering outside the refuse zones. A day to forget for Kuss and Team Visma | Lease-a-Bike, and a Tour to forget for Visma altogether.
That Carapaz then won the stage was deserved in its own way. He never stopped fighting. How many times had he been dropped? Why was he even there, the polka dot jersey was secure. “I have to get him, I have to get him, I have to get him,” he told himself countless times. He did, he did, he did. He won the stage because of Kuss’ mistakes, but he did deserve it. There is crying in cycling, he wouldn’t stop crying for minutes after the finish.
Col de la Croix de Fer. You cry, you pray, you die. Carapaz did all three and won the stage. Pedersen did all three and won the green jersey. Del Toro did all three and won the white jersey. Among them all day was Pogačar, socially conversing with his friends. We live in remarkable times.
Warren Barguil is our focus rider today. The veteran is on Team Jonathan. I say veteran, he’s 34. Way back in 2017 he won two stages in the Tour de France and he won the mountains competition. He looked like a future GC contender, but despite a sixth place in stage 6 of the 2017 Vuelta a España, he did not finish that grand tour. He finished second in the KOM competition in the 2018 Tour and then we didn’t see much of him until the 2023 Giro d’Italia when he finished third in stage 8.
This isn’t some great comeback story. He was 30th today. That was his best result of the 2026 Tour de France and I wish I could ask him why he rode so well today. He died on the same Croix de Fer that murdered everyone except Pedersen. Thirtieth and 26 minutes down, that’s about where the grupettos begin but still. There were 130 riders behind him, almost twenty minutes slower. He was racing today.
I only noticed him because he crossed the finish together with Julian Alaphilippe. Two French riders in the waning years of their careers. Both had their best result of the Tour on the hardest stage.
It’s a shame we never get to see these things 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.
Three teams took the honors today. Team Hugo and Team Tadej shared first place; Team Hugo with most points from the stage and Team Tadej most points from classifications. Two points behind them were Team Ansel, who had nine riders in the Top-25.
Team Wesley took fourth today, followed by Team Josh. Sharing sixth place were Team Caleb and Team Matthew. Team Charles took eighth today, Team Oliver ninth, and Team Amalia tenth. Two teams missed the boat: Team Cameron in eleventh and Team Grace in twelfth.
Team Ansel have done enough to secure the overall victory in the 2026 AAVC Juniors Tour de France Game. Perhaps a mathematical scenario exists in which they can lose 170 points in a single day, but I can’t think of it.
Stage 21 will start and finish on the Champs-Élysées. The wildfires near Bordeaux have drawn away so much police that the organizers had a choice: shorten the stage, or cancel the Montmartre climbs. I was hoping they’d cancel the Montmartre climbs because I am a purist, and the Tour de France is more pure when it finishes with a Champs-Élysées criterium. But the organizers ignored me, shortened the stage, and moved police from the outskirts of Paris to Montmartre.
That probably made Tadej Pogačar happy. He’s still mad that Wout van Aert beat him in the 2025 edition of this stage. He’ll 100% want to win again on Sunday. But that doesn’t mean he will. He was beaten in 2025, he can be beaten in 2026.
The computer predicts a win for Mathieu van der Poel, the most Wout van Aert-like rider in the peloton. Also with a shot: Tom Pidcock, Mads Pedersen, Remco Evenepoel. I’m discounting the chance of a bunch sprint because that will require the blessing of both Pogačar and van der Poel. That won’t happen.
Van der Poel is the favorite of this race 99% of the time. He’s in good shape, and he hasn’t won as much in 2026 as he wanted to. Most of the races he’s not won were won by Pogačar. That’s the 1% of the equation above. Stage 21 of the 2026 Tour de France is the 1% that van der Poel can’t win — Pogačar will.
Standings after stage 20:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
4668 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Tadej* |
4494 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Josh* |
4370 |
3 |
0 |
|
4 |
Team Hugo* |
4241 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Charles* |
3866 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Caleb* |
3733 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Matthew* |
3657 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Oliver* |
3446 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Amalia* |
3130 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Wesley* |
2714 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Grace* |
1686 |
11 |
0 |
|
12 |
Team Cameron* |
1501 |
12 |
0 |
Standings after stage 20 (including dogs and adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
4668 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Kent |
4613 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Kari |
4588 |
3 |
0 |
|
4 |
Team Amelia |
4506 |
5 |
1 |
|
5 |
Team Tadej* |
4494 |
4 |
-1 |
|
6 |
Team Melanie |
4398 |
7 |
1 |
|
7 |
Team Josh* |
4370 |
6 |
-1 |
|
8 |
Team Eric |
4365 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Kurt |
4336 |
10 |
1 |
|
10 |
Team Rob |
4290 |
9 |
-1 |
|
11 |
Team Jonwaine |
4267 |
14 |
3 |
|
12 |
Team Hugo* |
4241 |
11 |
-1 |
|
13 |
Team Jon |
4196 |
12 |
-1 |
|
14 |
Team Julie |
4195 |
15 |
1 |
|
15 |
Team Craig |
4154 |
13 |
-2 |
|
16 |
Team Laurens |
4006 |
16 |
0 |
|
17 |
Team Charles* |
3866 |
17 |
0 |
|
18 |
Team Corsa |
3821 |
19 |
1 |
|
19 |
Team Ed |
3782 |
18 |
-1 |
|
20 |
Team Caleb* |
3733 |
20 |
0 |
|
21 |
Team Ambrose |
3668 |
21 |
0 |
|
22 |
Team Matthew* |
3657 |
22 |
0 |
|
23 |
Team Grace |
3626 |
23 |
0 |
|
24 |
Team Kate |
3539 |
24 |
0 |
|
25 |
Team Ellie |
3524 |
25 |
0 |
|
26 |
Team Jonathan |
3449 |
28 |
2 |
|
27 |
Team Oliver* |
3446 |
26 |
-1 |
|
28 |
Team Cameron |
3426 |
27 |
-1 |
|
29 |
Team Charlotte |
3382 |
29 |
0 |
|
30 |
Team Adam |
3283 |
30 |
0 |
|
31 |
Team Suzanne |
3178 |
33 |
2 |
|
32 |
Team Erin |
3177 |
32 |
0 |
|
33 |
Team Amalia* |
3130 |
31 |
-2 |
|
34 |
Team Furner |
3128 |
34 |
0 |
|
35 |
Team Lichterman |
2914 |
35 |
0 |
|
36 |
Team Allison |
2896 |
36 |
0 |
|
37 |
Team Wesley* |
2714 |
37 |
0 |
|
38 |
Team Wesley |
2638 |
38 |
0 |
|
39 |
Team Chris |
2637 |
39 |
0 |
|
40 |
Team Izzy |
2499 |
41 |
1 |
|
41 |
Team Senna# |
2483 |
40 |
-1 |
|
42 |
Team Valerie |
1705 |
42 |
0 |
|
43 |
Team Grace* |
1686 |
43 |
0 |
|
44 |
Team Cameron* |
1501 |
44 |
0 |
|
45 |
Team Sam |
1367 |
45 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 20:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
YELLOW JERSEY |
GREEN JERSEY |
POLKA DOT JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
91 |
27 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
42 |
133 |
2997 |
3130 |
|
Team Ansel* |
155 |
45 |
13 |
5 |
11 |
74 |
229 |
4439 |
4668 |
|
Team Caleb* |
112 |
36 |
9 |
5 |
9 |
59 |
171 |
3562 |
3733 |
|
Team Cameron* |
64 |
17 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
26 |
90 |
1411 |
1501 |
|
Team Charles* |
102 |
36 |
13 |
5 |
9 |
63 |
165 |
3701 |
3866 |
|
Team Grace* |
66 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
86 |
1600 |
1686 |
|
Team Hugo* |
159 |
41 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
72 |
231 |
4010 |
4241 |
|
Team Josh* |
122 |
40 |
13 |
5 |
11 |
69 |
191 |
4179 |
4370 |
|
Team Matthew* |
112 |
36 |
9 |
5 |
9 |
59 |
171 |
3486 |
3657 |
|
Team Oliver* |
102 |
30 |
12 |
8 |
2 |
52 |
154 |
3292 |
3446 |
|
Team Tadej* |
154 |
46 |
12 |
5 |
14 |
77 |
231 |
4263 |
4494 |
|
Team Wesley* |
145 |
39 |
0 |
5 |
9 |
53 |
198 |
2516 |
2714 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 20 (including dogs and adults):
|
96 |
31 |
7 |
7 |
11 |
56 |
152 |
3131 |
3283 |
|
|
Team Allison |
129 |
27 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
54 |
183 |
2713 |
2896 |
|
Team Amalia* |
91 |
27 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
42 |
133 |
2997 |
3130 |
|
Team Ambrose |
102 |
36 |
13 |
5 |
9 |
63 |
165 |
3503 |
3668 |
|
Team Amelia |
173 |
49 |
10 |
5 |
14 |
78 |
251 |
4255 |
4506 |
|
Team Ansel* |
155 |
45 |
13 |
5 |
11 |
74 |
229 |
4439 |
4668 |
|
Team Caleb* |
112 |
36 |
9 |
5 |
9 |
59 |
171 |
3562 |
3733 |
|
Team Cameron |
105 |
34 |
9 |
7 |
9 |
59 |
164 |
3262 |
3426 |
|
Team Cameron* |
64 |
17 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
26 |
90 |
1411 |
1501 |
|
Team Charles* |
102 |
36 |
13 |
5 |
9 |
63 |
165 |
3701 |
3866 |
|
Team Charlotte |
127 |
36 |
4 |
12 |
12 |
64 |
191 |
3191 |
3382 |
|
Team Chris |
106 |
28 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
45 |
151 |
2486 |
2637 |
|
Team Corsa |
142 |
38 |
12 |
7 |
11 |
70 |
212 |
3609 |
3821 |
|
Team Craig |
133 |
39 |
12 |
8 |
11 |
70 |
203 |
3951 |
4154 |
|
Team Ed |
102 |
36 |
12 |
5 |
9 |
62 |
164 |
3618 |
3782 |
|
Team Ellie |
161 |
34 |
12 |
12 |
7 |
67 |
228 |
3296 |
3524 |
|
Team Eric |
161 |
43 |
12 |
13 |
11 |
79 |
240 |
4125 |
4365 |
|
Team Erin |
168 |
37 |
3 |
12 |
7 |
61 |
229 |
2948 |
3177 |
|
Team Furner |
161 |
34 |
4 |
11 |
11 |
62 |
223 |
2905 |
3128 |
|
Team Grace |
164 |
36 |
12 |
12 |
7 |
69 |
233 |
3393 |
3626 |
|
Team Grace* |
66 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
86 |
1600 |
1686 |
|
Team Hugo* |
159 |
41 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
72 |
231 |
4010 |
4241 |
|
Team Izzy |
107 |
21 |
9 |
11 |
5 |
48 |
155 |
2344 |
2499 |
|
Team Jon |
132 |
44 |
12 |
5 |
14 |
75 |
207 |
3989 |
4196 |
|
Team Jonathan |
172 |
38 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
54 |
226 |
3223 |
3449 |
|
Team Jonwaine |
237 |
54 |
0 |
12 |
14 |
82 |
319 |
3948 |
4267 |
|
Team Josh* |
122 |
40 |
13 |
5 |
11 |
69 |
191 |
4179 |
4370 |
|
Team Julie |
180 |
43 |
12 |
12 |
11 |
80 |
260 |
3935 |
4195 |
|
Team Kari |
181 |
49 |
12 |
10 |
14 |
85 |
266 |
4322 |
4588 |
|
Team Kate |
123 |
28 |
12 |
10 |
2 |
52 |
175 |
3364 |
3539 |
|
Team Kent |
177 |
49 |
12 |
10 |
14 |
85 |
262 |
4351 |
4613 |
|
Team Kurt |
174 |
48 |
13 |
13 |
12 |
86 |
260 |
4076 |
4336 |
|
Team Laurens |
171 |
46 |
5 |
10 |
11 |
72 |
243 |
3763 |
4006 |
|
Team Lichterman |
125 |
28 |
12 |
6 |
7 |
55 |
180 |
2734 |
2914 |
|
Team Matthew* |
112 |
36 |
9 |
5 |
9 |
59 |
171 |
3486 |
3657 |
|
Team Melanie |
170 |
41 |
13 |
12 |
11 |
79 |
249 |
4149 |
4398 |
|
Team Oliver* |
102 |
30 |
12 |
8 |
2 |
52 |
154 |
3292 |
3446 |
|
Team Rob |
140 |
45 |
12 |
5 |
11 |
73 |
213 |
4077 |
4290 |
|
Team Sam |
49 |
17 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
25 |
74 |
1293 |
1367 |
|
Team Senna# |
90 |
21 |
9 |
7 |
0 |
39 |
129 |
2354 |
2483 |
|
Team Suzanne |
174 |
36 |
3 |
7 |
9 |
57 |
231 |
2947 |
3178 |
|
Team Tadej* |
154 |
46 |
12 |
5 |
14 |
77 |
231 |
4263 |
4494 |
|
Team Valerie |
24 |
10 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
23 |
47 |
1658 |
1705 |
|
Team Wesley |
105 |
24 |
9 |
7 |
0 |
42 |
147 |
2491 |
2638 |
|
Team Wesley* |
145 |
39 |
0 |
5 |
9 |
53 |
198 |
2516 |
2714 |
Allez le Tour!
-Laurens.