Pogacar wins Alpe d'Huez in record time, extends Tour de France lead to 7:11

Tadej Pogacar on the 13.8-kilometer final climb to Alpe d'Huez. Source: AFP/LOIC VENANCE

Tadej Pogacar has won the mountain finish at the legendary ski station of Alpe d'Huez during the Tour de France, extending his overall lead in what observers described as an astonishing feat of brilliance.

As Pogacar reached the cycling mecca amidst huge crowds after his climbing show, the Tour patron spread his arms and thrust his winner's fist into the sky. With his first triumph in the legendary mountain resort, the exceptional Slovenian talent can hardly be denied the yellow jersey at the 113th Tour de France — regardless of the wave of illness affecting his UAE team.

Record-Breaking Ascent

Pogacar stormed up the 21 most famous hairpin bends in the world at record speed. He completed the climb in 35 minutes and 26 seconds — 1 minute and 24 seconds faster than Marco Pantani, who conquered the mountain in 36:40 in 1995.

It seemed as if there was no gradient for Pogacar on the way up to the winter sports resort at 1,860 meters, as if the mountain massif were a small hill with a few bends. Once again, the exceptional talent rode in a league of his own.

"It's so cool to win here," said the Slovenian after the victory amidst huge crowds.

He left his rivals standing on the mountain; 900 meters before the finish, the superstar also shook off the last breakaway riders. After 127.9 kilometers, Pogacar took the win ahead of Frenchman Lenny Martinez and Tokyo Olympic champion Richard Carapaz of Ecuador. His biggest rivals in the overall classification were more than two and a half minutes behind.

Comfortable Overall Lead

Before part two of the Alpe d'Huez spectacle — the race returns to the Alpine resort on Saturday — Pogacar now holds a comfortable lead of:

• 7 minutes, 11 seconds over double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel
• 9 minutes, 42 seconds over Mexican Isaac del Toro

Only a crash or illness can likely stop the world champion. The latter is causing alarm at UAE, as a virus is going around and several riders have already been severely affected on the last stages.

Pogacar's helper Nils Politt was not yet alarmed. "You hear from many riders in the peloton that they are struggling and sick," he said. The professionals from the UAE team have had single rooms throughout the entire tour. "We try to isolate ourselves," said Politt. The evening before the stage, those with complaints ate in their rooms.

Spectacular Atmosphere

Pogacar was certainly in splendid form during the spectacle at Alpe d'Huez. "This year will be iconic because we go up there twice," the superstar had predicted. And so it happened.

On his way to his fifth stage win at the 2026 Tour, more than half a million spectators on the mountain created a madhouse atmosphere. Thousands of cycling fans had already spent the night in tents and caravans on the slopes, with a mega-party atmosphere prevailing along the route in places.

Breakaway Group Unsuccessful

As the stars of the sport climbed the 13.8-kilometer final climb averaging 8.1 percent, the corridor of spectators left them only a narrow passage.

Pogacar launched the decisive attack 13 kilometers before the finish. None of his rivals could follow him. Jonas Vingegaard and Germany's cycling star Florian Lipowitz likely would have had no answer either. The two podium finishers from last year had to abandon their Tour dream after crashes on Sunday and Tuesday respectively, each with a broken collarbone.

A 15-man breakaway group had entered the final climb with a lead of more than three minutes. But at Pogacar's hellish pace, the lead melted away under summer temperatures in the Oisans mountains.

Meanwhile, Evenepoel made a small sting in the fight for second place.