Pogacar launches brilliant attack on Alpe d'Huez to win stage 19 of the Tour and extend lead

ALPE D'HUEZ, France (AP) — Tadej Pogacar launched a stunning solo attack from the foot of the iconic Alpe d'Huez to win the 19th stage of the Tour de France 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.

“It’s very cool to win up here,” Pogacar said. “I’m super happy to take the win.”

Martinez finished six seconds behind and Carapaz — who won Thursday's 18th stage with a brilliant breakaway win of his own — 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-Élysées in Paris.

Rated as an HC mountain pass, the hardest category in the race, Alpe d’Huez 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.

“It was a crazy atmosphere on the whole climb,” 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’s win was, it also came about because Carapaz, Kuss and Martinez did not work together properly to distance Pogacar when he was lower down.

“I had to fight against super good riders,” Pogacar said. ”But they were playing against each other a bit so it helped me to catch up.”

Perhaps thinking he could benefit from others' fading and get the stage win, Martinez kept sitting on Carapaz’s wheel, which was very much to Carapaz’s annoyance and meant the veteran had too much work to do alone.

He kept trying to accelerate while Martinez — 10 years his junior — 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’s mammoth 171-kilometer Alpine stage could be epic.

It features three HC climbs — Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Galibier and Col de Sarenne — and one Category 1 climb up Col du Télégraphe before a hilly finish to Alpe d’Huez.

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.

“Tomorrow is the Queen stage of the Tour,” Pogacar said. “(It) is the hardest day of the Tour. We’ll follow our own plan, our own rhythm. We don’t care about anything else.”

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Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides in the pack during the nineteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start in Gap and finish in Alpe d'Huez, France, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Ecuador's Richard Carapaz climbs Alpe d'Huez during the nineteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start in Gap and finish in Alpe d'Huez, France, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, climbs Alpe d'Huez during the nineteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start in Gap and finish in Alpe d'Huez, France, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, crosses the finish line to win the nineteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start in Gap and finish in Alpe d'Huez, France, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, reacts as he crosses the finish line to win the nineteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start in Gap and finish in Alpe d'Huez, France, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — Officials are gathering Friday in Ontario to take delight in a new U.S.-Canada bridge over the Detroit River, an international span that is expected to enhance trade on both sides of the border and give travelers another route to both countries.

A ceremony is taking place in Windsor, Ontario, before the Gordie Howe International Bridge opens to traffic Monday. It was supposed to be a celebration on the bridge deck with officials from both countries, but Canada said no to a joint gathering after President Donald Trump this week suddenly announced 50% tariffs on Canadian goods entering the U.S.

“It's regretful that we're at this point in time with our trade relationship. We're hopeful for better days ahead,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told WXYZ-TV in Detroit.

More than 70% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S., making America its largest trade partner, and Detroit is the No. 1 port for truck traffic on the U.S.-Canada border, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Howe bridge will instantly create competition. For nearly a century, the privately owned Ambassador Bridge has been the only route for large commercial trucks moving between the U.S. and Canada at Detroit.

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield said she had been invited to a two-country event Friday before things abruptly changed.

“It will be vital for our economy,” Sheffield said of the bridge, sidestepping a question about whether it had become a “political football” in the rocky relationship between the countries.

The bridge is named for Howe, a famous Canadian who played hockey for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. He died in 2016. Construction, which began in 2018, took years, partly because of a global slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The six-lane bridge is 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) long and stands 151 feet (46 meters) above the Detroit River at its highest point. Pedestrians and bicyclists carrying proper identification will be able to cross it for free in a few weeks.

Canada paid to build the bridge at an estimated cost of $6.4 billion. A recent agreement says Canada will share some toll revenue with the U.S. government for 15 years. Michigan will also get a share, but not until Canada’s costs are recovered, likely decades in the future.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is seen from River Rouge, Mich., connecting Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

FILE - The Gordie Howe Bridge is shown under construction between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)