Paul Seixas remains firmly in the fight for a place on the Tour de France podium after limiting his losses on an unforgiving first encounter with Alpe dHuez. The 19-year-old reached the summit alongside Isaac del Toro, preserving fourth place overall and keeping the gap to the Mexican at just 24 se...

The last time Tom Pidcock rode up the Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France, it was one of the performances of his career. The then 22-year-old flew up the famed climb to take his first and to date only Tour stage win, and to mark his name on the world of cycling.That was in 2022. Four years on, the now Pinarello Q36.5 rider, aged 26, is older and wiser, but also now the owner of an opposite experience on the Alpe. Instead of tasting victory once more, Pidcock finished 20th on stage 19 of the 2026 Tour , 8:22 behind the stage winner and yellow jersey Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)."That second last climb I went so deep, I think I paid for that on the last climb. I was dead there," he said at the finish."Of course [there are positives to take from the stage] Yeah, what a day. I hoped for more. But there was nothing more I had in my legs there. It is was it is."There might have been positives, but stage 19 was a bad day for Pidcock; not only was he not able to recreate his heroics from four years ago, he also slipped down on the general classification, being leapfrogged by Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). What looked like a comfortable eighth place is now an edgy ninth, with Pidcock leading Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) by under two minutes. It should be enough, but with a chaotic penultimate stage to come, anything might happen.His comments post stage 18 on Thursday were prescient, warning of Carapaz: "When Carapaz is up the road, I have too much respect for this guy to give him free time. You don't give him free time."The EF rider is chasing the mountains classification, but has also found himself in the top 10 on GC; he is just 15 seconds ahead of Pidcock, so it will all come down to stage 20, also to Alpe d'Huez.Despite the disappointment, Pidcock could still find time to enjoy his second time racing up the Alpe at the Tour: "It's incredible you know, the amount of people who come here and watch bike racing. It's amazing. The atmosphere. Thank you to everyone who comes out and makes it so magical."

Remco Evenepoel strengthened his hold on second place at the Tour de France after distancing both Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas on Alpe dHuez, even if Tadej Pogacar once again proved completely beyond reach. The Belgian gained 12 seconds on Del Toro and 16 on Seixas at the summit, extending his ad...

Youve seen the photos, watched the videos, and possibly stood on the road yourself, witnessing the worlds biggest riders at the worlds best race ascending the worlds noisiest climb. Few things stir the emotions and whet the appetite quite like a stage of the Tour de France to the top of Alpe dHuez.After a four year absence, the Tour returned to its most famous of climbs on stage 19 (and will do again on stage 20, albeit without ascending the 21 hairpins and instead going via the Col de Sarenne).If watching a spread out peloton, one by one, climb the Alpe, past the tens of thousands of fans, barbecues, flags, empty beer bottles and questionable fancy dress is an unmissable date in the diary, imagine what its like to actually ride the thing. To be an actor in bike racings craziest circus. Even one of the minor players, not stage winner Tadej Pogaar.Tobias Foss of Netcompany-Ineos was one of many riders riding up to the ski station for the first time. It was very fun, the Norwegian said. All the climbs in the Tour have a lot of people but this was extreme.My eardrums were hurting a bit sometimes, honestly. Im expecting when I get back to the hotel that my ears will be singing a bit. It was just incredible.It doesnt matter if youre the first guy or the 40th guy or the 100th guy, people are still having a good party and cheering you. Its amazing and incredible.No surprise that Foss had a favourite section. We have the Norwegian/Danish corner, and I saw some friends at the start of that corner so that was nice. It was cool to see a lot of Norwegian flags.Foss was greeted raucously by the thousands of spectators (Image credit: Getty Images)NSNs Lewis Askey, losing his battle to finish dead-last in the race, was a spectator on the Alpe four years ago when his British compatriot Tom Pidcock won. This time he was riding it. Mental, is how Askey described the experience. I think its one of the mythical things of cycling to be able to do. I watched it a couple of years ago so to be here now riding it is really cool. I hate to think what it would have been like for the leaders as I couldnt ride through the crowds [at some points]. It was so crazy, and that was half-an-hour afterwards.(Image credit: Getty Images)The Tour is littered with episodes of riders joining in the festivities on the Alpe, either by taking beers from fans, or wheeling up the steep gradients. Michael Matthews of Jayco AlUla was in the days big breakaway, but when he got to the bottom of the Alpe, he switched his focus into enjoying the madness of it all. Even in the cauldron of noise, he found time for quiet reflection.Stage 19 of the hardest race in the world, and after breaking my arms at the start of the year, and having [pulmonary] embolism at the Tour de France last year, its such an amazing feeling to be back," Matthews said.After what Ive been through the last two years, to be back at the Tour and in this shape, and having these fans cheer me on, it was quite emotional. I was by myself for pretty much the whole climb and I was able to enjoy pretty much every single fan on the side of the road, try to gee them up to get them even more excited, and just do what I can to really just enjoy the atmosphere.How did Matthews animate the crowd further? Its just winding your hands up and that makes the fans go even more crazy. It doesn't take much! Just a little symbol that youre acknowledging them and they go even crazier. I also saw a lot of Aussie flags out there which was really incredible and not even just Aussies, but fans from around the world were cheering me on as if I was about to win the race, so that was pretty special.In terms of feeling the support from the fans, it doesnt get much better than this. The Flanders Classics are pretty incredible, but this was 13km of screaming in my ears the whole way.(Image credit: Getty Images)Not everyone will leave with positive memories: Movistar's Einer Rubio suffered facial injuries after crashing into the back of a UAE Team Emirates-XRG car. But Robert Stannard of Bahrain-Victorious was another one who was inspired by the watching public. Its amazing to come up here with all the fans, he said. It doesnt feel like an effort at all because of how much motivation they have us.Just to get here at the bottom, knowing that youre going up Alpe dHuez in the Tour de France is almost like a dream come true. It was really amazing, all the fans, everything. I loved it.Most fans would give a lot to ride a stage of the Tour up to Alpe dHuez, but it was Foss who had the most envy. It must be so cool to stand alongside the road, he said. Ill definitely bring my kids here in the future.

There are images no one ever wants to see. The Tour de France is effort, joy, sport, anticipation, ambition Alpe dHuez is, by some margin, the climb on the Grande Boucle with the best vibes. However, it isnt always like that. Sadly, today we saw footage of two not-so-young fans who, after an ar...

Daphne Schrager says she has "conducted her career with honesty and integrity" but that the burden of proof in cases such as hers is too high.

Adam Yates made a Lazarus-like recovery to get into a breakaway on stage 19 of the Tour de France, and launch Tadej Pogaar to victory on Alpe d'Huez.At the end of stage 18, it seemed very much as though Yates entire race was done. Clearly unwell, UAE Emirates-XRGs British rider had survived the stage but he looked, frankly, awful. Less than 24 hours later, at the end of a brutal 127km mountain stage, he popped up to play a stage-changing lead-out role for Pogaar, who became only the second rider ever to win on Alpe dHuez in the yellow jersey, and he set a new record on the climb while he was at it. Clearly exhausted, but looking like a different man compared to the way he presented the previous day in Orcires-Merlette, Yates even managed a brief laugh when asked immediately after the finish if he felt reborn. "Reborn is a strong word," he said. "I'm still suffering a lot. It's quite obvious we have had some illness in the team, and the last few days have been really difficult. Even just to finish the stage has been really hard. We knew we would get through it, but it takes time." From the bottom of the infamous hors catgorie climb, making its first appearance at the Tour since 2022, the UAE Emirates-XRG team knew Pogaar had several minutes to make up on the leaders, and that success would depend on who they had in the break.Despite the fact that he was still feeling the effects of his illness, Yates stood up, although he admits there was some serendipity in how things panned out. I didn't mean to be in the break actually, I was up near the front marking some moves, and suddenly there was a space, he admitted to reporters. Yeah, it was good - I got a bit of a head-start on the climb, and then the guys came from behind and you know what happened.I would have liked [the pull for Pogaar] to have been a little bit longer, but like I say, I've been struggling for the last few days with illness, and just to be back in this kind of shape, and to be back at the pointy end of a race is nice.When you're sick the only thing you pray for is health, I read the other day, and that's true. It's good to be back, and hopefully I'll be even better tomorrow. One thing is clear, regardless of whether there has been sickness in the squad, a mere malady isn't likely to stop Pogaar's relentless pursuit of his fifth Tour de France title.

At the Tour de France, the racing does not always end at the finish line. Sprint deviations, sticky bottles, feeding breaches, littering fines, time penalties, yellow cards and relegations can all become part of the daily story, especially in a race where every stage result and jersey position is wa...

Freed from domestique duties, with his teammate Jonas Vingegaard at home with a broken collarbone, Sepp Kuss sensed glory on Alpe dHuez.Its been five years since the sports favourite helper won a stage of the Tour de France, and there was no better place to finally win in the Tour again than atop the mythical Alpe, the climb every single cyclist, amateur or pro, dreams of being triumphant on.Visma-Lease a Bikes Kuss did everything right at the start. He was part of the huge 42-man breakaway, and was present when that group was whittled down to 15 on the penultimate climb. At the bottom of the iconic Alpe, only six remained, and one of them was Kuss.Before long, there were only three: Kuss, stage 18 winner Richard Carapaz, and the best French-placed rider in the race: Lenny Martinez. Either of them could win.Neither of them would.The trio all attacked one another, but it was in vain: with 3km remaining, Tadej Pogaar, he who spoils so many dreams, passed them all and rode to his fifth stage victory in the race. Martinez held on for second, Carapaz third, but Kuss drifted back to fourth.If it seemed inevitable that Pogaar would win, and in doing so smash Marco Pantanis record, Kuss believed that the break had a chance of resisting the race leader. But their advantage to the yellow jersey at the foot of the Alpe wasnt big enough.I knew he [Pogaar] would probably go from the bottom so with that you probably need six minutes or something, Kuss said.We had a good selection at the bottom, but when I saw the gap at the bottom, I knew it would be tight. It was a bit stop-start riding, a lot of attacking.It was just everyone on their own, nobody wanted to commit fully. Its still a climb where you get quite a bit of drafting, so it was pretty tactical at the end.I just tried to ride my own rhythm. Im not as explosive as those other guys, but Im happy with the ride. I tried to keep it steady, but its hard. There are all the moments when you think, Now I want to go with speed, or go when theyre finished with their effort. Then you get another narrow part. So its hard to time it.Despite not pulling off the win, Kuss was content with how he performed. Im happy with the ride. I feel good, the American said.The Tour returns to the Alpe tomorrow. One more chance for a Kuss victory.

The 2026 Tour de France will take place from the 4th to the 26th of July. Throughout the21 stages, the peloton will be racing through the mountains, sprint stages, cobblestones, individual and team time trials, and even. We take a look at all stages, their official profiles, and preview the days -...