Tadej Pogacar stuns on Stage 19, takes big Tour de France lead

Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar won Stage 19 -- a mountainous, 127.9-kilometer trek in the French Alps -- shocking competitors as he mounted a furious rally with 12 kilometers to go on Friday.

More than three minutes behind the leaders at that point, he kicked into top gear to overtake Richard Carapaz of Ecuador and Lenny Martinez of France with 1.5 kilometers left on his way to his fifth stage victory in 2026 and 26th in his career.

Pogacar increased his overall lead to 7 minutes, 11 seconds over Remco Evenepoel of Belgium after he moved from the base of Alpe d'Huez and finished the climb to the finish line at the summit.

The riders will return to the mountain on Saturday for the penultimate trek of this year's race, traveling 170.9 kilometers from Le Bourg D'Oisans to Alpe d'Huez in Stage 20.

That sets up the final stage on Sunday as the cyclists ride into Paris in what should be another winner's ceremony for Pogacar of Slovenia, barring a crash or other unforseen event. He would join Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as five-time winners.

Isaac del Toro of Mexico holds third place in the overall standings, followed by Paul Seixas, just 19, and fellow Frenchman Martinez.

Martinez finished six seconds behind Pogacar on Friday.

--Field Level Media