Tour de France: Richard Carapaz secures the mountain jersey – and the safety net prevents drama

Drinks and food are rare commodities between turns one and 21. And so on this Saturday in Alpe d’Huez, hundreds crowded into a sandwich stand four kilometers from the finish, which was conveniently positioned right next to an XXL flat screen. They saw that the American Sepp Kuss was in the lead seven kilometers from the finish line, closely followed by Richard Carapaz from Ecuador. The 33-year-old’s fight seemed increasingly desperate; he didn’t get a meter closer to Kiss. And then, just before the curve at the snack bar, a horrified scream went through the audience.

On a section of the track 1,800 meters in front of the giant television, a scene occurred that could have ended tragically. The 31-year-old from Team Visma misjudged a curve, tried to brake, fell onto the road barrier and slid along the safety net that had only been installed that morning. It would be unimaginable if he had found himself in this situation 150 centimeters further back; he would hardly have been able to survive a fall into the depths. But it looked as if Kuss had been able to prevent this with the utmost control possible.

Carapaz took advantage of the opportunity, whizzed past his struggling competitor and was unstoppable on his way up the last three hairpin bends to the finish in Alpe d’Huez. “I was always just behind him, then I saw him on the ground,” Carapaz said at the press conference. His second stage victory in this Tour de France had long since been sealed. And Kuss, who had already stumbled and fallen at a boundary fence shortly before his fall, was overtaken in the last meters before the finish by the charging Belgian Remco Evenepoel. The captain from the German racing team Red-Bull-Broa-Hansgrohe crossed the finish line ahead of Kuss (+31 seconds) in second place of the day (+26) – before the man in the yellow jersey appeared there a short time later.

Tour boss Christian Prudhomme speaks of the “toughest mountain stage in tour history”

Tadej Pogacar had traveled many kilometers in the group of the best overall riders on this Tour of France. When Evenepoel attacked for a final attack on Kuss and Carapaz, the Slovenian held back. Instead, teammate Isaac Del Toro from Mexico, third overall and wearer of the white jersey for the best young professional, escorted the team as slipstream. “Today I was a bit worried that we could lose third place and his jersey with Isaac,” said Pogacar on the press podium. “Today I committed myself to him.”

As on Friday, the queen stage led to the Alpe d’Huez, surrounded by myths, but offered a much more demanding daily profile. A total of 5,450 meters of altitude were on the agenda, including historical tour climbs such as the Col de la Croix-de-Fer, the Col du Télégraphe and the Col du Galibier; all climbs that most amateur racers would only undertake as a day tour. Tour boss Christian Prudhomme spoke of the “toughest mountain stage in Tour history” – and the German professional Pascal Ackermann felt it: the man from the Jayco AlUla racing team, recently suffering from a fall, had to give up this penultimate stage and thus the entire Tour de France.

All decisions in the four jersey rankings have been made. Unless a nighttime infection or a serious fall intervenes on the final stage to Paris, Pogacar will be honored as overall winner for the fifth time under the Eiffel Tower. Del Toro can put on the white shirt as the fastest young professional, while Mads Pedersen from Denmark will climb onto the podium in green as the strongest sprinter.

And the mountain jersey, which Pogacar had also led for a long time, can no longer be taken away from Carapaz. “It was our mission from the start to win the polka dot jersey,” said the rider from the EF Education-EasyPost team, who never tired of constantly attacking in the high mountains of this Tour de France. The 33-year-old was the only one who managed to conquer this 20th stage – the 5,450 meters in altitude and 171 kilometers – in under five hours. It’s hard to believe this time: four hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds. Secured without stopping at the snack stand.