2026 Tour de France stage 20 preview | Rain could very well turn the Tour de France upside down

We witnessed cycling history on Friday during Stage 19 of the Tour de France on Alpe d'Huez. Guess what? A day later, in Stage 20, we’ll finish once again on the “Dutch Mountain,” though this time we’ll tackle it from the other side. How, what, and where? IDL Pro Cycling brings you everything you need to know about the 20th stage!

The organisers have definitely saved the toughest part for last. The stage between Le Bourg d'Oisans and l'Alpe d'Huez is 170.9 kilometers long and packs a whopping 5,450(!) meters of elevation gain. Or rather, "packed"... Anyone who looks at the profile will see right away: this is an incredibly grueling stage.

The route is flat for just a short while after the start, but the Col de la Croix de Fer soon looms ahead. On Saturday, this is the first of no fewer than three hors catégorie climbs. With an average gradient of 5.2 percent, it’s not particularly steep, but that percentage is skewed by the downhill sections. At 24 kilometers, the climb is certainly incredibly long—a three-stage challenge.

After a long descent, the peloton heads toward Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, where the Col du Télégraphe begins. It’s just under 12 kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.1 percent, and above all, very consistent. Consistently steep, that is. Unfortunately for the non-climbers, there’s no long descent after the summit. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The Télégraphe is, in fact—as connoisseurs will already know—a lead-up to the much higher Col du Galibier. After a short descent, the grueling 17.7-kilometer climb begins immediately, with an average gradient of 6.9 percent. The climb is particularly steep toward the end. The summit is at an elevation of 2,642 meters, the highest point of this Tour de France. From there, it’s still 60 kilometers to the finish line.

This time, however, there is a long descent: via the Col du Lautaret—which, on the other side of the Galibier, is a gentler descent than the Télégraphe—the route continues down to Mizoën. Be careful: thanks to the predicted chance of rain, this descent could very well be wet. In any case, with 26.5 kilometers to go, the final grueling climb of the day begins in Mizoën. That’s the Col de Sarenne, 12.8 kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.3 percent.

Huh, but weren’t we going to Alpe d’Huez one more time? That’s right! Via the Sarenne—where there won’t be any spectators, so it’ll be nice and quiet—you also end up in Huez, just not via the legendary 21 turns. The Sarenne is a brutal climb, with two sections where it’s not too steep, but the final stretch is especially grueling with steep gradients.

At the summit, it’s just over 14 kilometers to the finish line: first a short descent, then a brief climb, followed by another short descent, and finally a last stretch uphill. Be warned: that last stretch may only be 4 kilometers long, but it starts off very steep. After that, the road levels off a bit, and so, for the second day in a row, we’ll reach the summit of l’Alpe d’Huez. There, the riders will once again be welcomed by a deafening roar of the crowd.

Times
Start: 11:20 a.m CET
Finish: around 4:10 p.m CET

Heads up: there’s definitely a chance of rain in the Alps tomorrow! Showers are forecast throughout the afternoon, which would make both the long descent from the Galibier and the final climb, the Col de Sarenne, a lot less pleasant. The temperature will still be pleasant at around 18 degrees at the summits, and the wind won’t play a significant role.

The big question—as has often been the case in this Tour de France—is whether UAE Team Emirates-XRG will let the early breakaway take the win on Saturday. After Friday’s stage, where Tadej Pogacar left everyone in the dust, this could very well be the breakaway’s chance this time around.

In that scenario, we now know which attackers to keep an eye on. We’ve seen Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) at the front for two days in a row. That took a lot of energy, and it was also (especially for the Frenchman) in pursuit of the polka-dot jersey. How much energy do they have left—especially Carapaz, who finished third on Friday?

If it comes down to a breakaway, Visma | Lease a Bike will certainly give it their all for the stage win. From the Dutch team, we’ll be keeping an eye on the now-familiar names of Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, and Davide Piganzoli. Another rider to keep an eye on in such a scenario is the ever-active Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X, who finished fifth on Alpe d’Huez just last Friday.

Pablo Castrillo, Einer Rubio ( both Movistar), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) have also been seen attacking frequently in this Tour de France, while riders like Michael Storer (Tudor), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Luke Plapp and Ben O’Connor (both Jayco AlUla) will be hoping for slightly better form than before.

Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) has already won a stage in this Tour de France—on Day 13—and also finished a very impressive second on Thursday in Stage 18. In that 18th stage, Raul Garcia Pierna of Movistar was the surprise sixth-place finisher; definitely worth noting. On a really good day, Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) could be in the mix, while we’ve also seen Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United) up front again in recent days.

It could still go the way of the general classification contenders. In that case, as we’ve seen so many times before, Tadej Pogacar is the man to beat. His UAE teammate Isaac Del Toro’s goal was to make it onto the podium in Paris, though he’d love to add a stage win to that. Whether Pogi can hand him that victory again is doubtful.

After all, at the UAE Tour, you always have to keep an eye on Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM). The former has already beaten Pogacar on a climb once, though the Slovenian didn’t seem to be going all out on the Plateau de Solaison. In addition to the stage win, Seixas will also be in the running for a podium finish and the white jersey.

For general classification contenders like Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose (both Lidl-Trek), we don’t see many chances for a stage win, though there might be opportunities for the riders a bit further back. Riders like Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) are, in fact, a bit further back. The latter already won on Alpe d'Huez in 2022—though not via the Col du Sarenne at the time—and lost a lot of time on Friday during Stage 19.

And will Quinn Simmons finally be released from Lidl-Trek?!

Top Favorites: Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS)
Dark horses: Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Long shots: Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United), and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)