ALPE D’HUEZ, France (AP) 鈥� Tadej Pogacar launched a stunning solo attack from the foot of the iconic Alpe d’Huez to win the 19th stage of the and extend his overall lead on Friday.
Even by the four-time Tour champion’s lofty standards, it was up there with his best wins as he was more than three minutes behind with 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) remaining.
Riding without a teammate for the last section, he caught Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz and Frenchman Lenny Martinez with 1.5 kilometers left and then surged ahead for his fifth stage win of this year’s race and 26th overall.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very cool to win up here,鈥� Pogacar said. 鈥淚鈥檓 super happy to take the win.鈥�
Martinez finished six seconds behind and Carapaz 鈥� who won Thursday’s 18th stage with a of his own 鈥� was nine seconds back. American Sepp Kuss, who faded in the closing stages, was 1 minute, 14 seconds adrift.
With a lead of 7 minutes, 11 seconds over Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings, and two stages remaining, Pogacar is on the brink of joining Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only men to win five Tours.
Barring mishap or accident, the Slovenian star will be crowned when the race ends on Sunday on the Champs-脡lys茅es in Paris.
Rated as an HC mountain pass, the hardest category in the race, Alpe d鈥橦uez is arguably the most famed climb in cycling and has near-mythical status on the Tour. Swarms of fans, many camping overnight and carrying flags of several nations, screamed encouragement on each of the 21 hairpins.
鈥淚t was a crazy atmosphere on the whole climb,鈥� Pogacar said.
He kept his focus as the public got perilously close to his face and, at one stage, he had limited visibility due to smoke from flares being lit by spectators.
But as impressive as Pogacar鈥檚 win was, it also came about because Carapaz, Kuss and Martinez did not work together properly to distance Pogacar when he was lower down.
鈥淚 had to fight against super good riders,鈥� Pogacar said. 鈥滲ut they were playing against each other a bit so it helped me to catch up.鈥�
Perhaps thinking he could benefit from others’ fading and get the stage win, Martinez kept sitting on Carapaz鈥檚 wheel, which was very much to Carapaz鈥檚 annoyance and meant the veteran had too much work to do alone.
He kept trying to accelerate while Martinez 鈥� 10 years his junior 鈥� did less work and a tired-looking Kuss generally sat back too much before drifting away.
With 900 meters left Carapaz was showing phenomenal stamina to stay with Pogacar, but he was finally undone by a brutal acceleration and could not follow as the yellow jersey rolled past him.
Saturday鈥檚 mammoth 171-kilometer Alpine stage could be epic.
It features three HC climbs 鈥� Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Galibier and Col de Sarenne 鈥� and one Category 1 climb up Col du T茅l茅graphe before a hilly finish to Alpe d鈥橦uez.
Pogacar does not need to go for victory and can safely hang back and protect his lead.
But will he?
There are 66 kilometers of pure climbing and that may be too much for him to resist.
鈥淭omorrow is the Queen stage of the Tour,鈥� Pogacar said. 鈥�(It) is the hardest day of the Tour. We鈥檒l follow our own plan, our own rhythm. We don鈥檛 care about anything else.鈥�
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