If there's one man who can beat Pogačar on Stage 20 of the Tour de France, it's Richard Carapaz

Richard Carapaz is having a phenomenal third week in the Tour de France. After his stage victory in Stage 18, the Ecuadorian from EF Education-EasyPost was once again in contention during Stage 19 to Alpe d'Huez, and he nearly won again. More importantly for the climber: he took over the polka-dot jersey from Tadej Pogačar, who admitted to the cameras after the stage that he might well lose the battle for the mountain jersey.

There were a lot of riders in this Tour de France who wanted to go for the polka-dot jersey, but Carapaz seems to be the only one who can really put up a fight against Pogačar in Stage 20 on Saturday. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) did pick up a lot of points along the way on Friday, but didn’t have the legs to contest the final sprint. Carapaz did, as evidenced by his third-place finish.

As a result, Carapaz now has 91 points in the mountains classification, 1 point more than Pogacar in second place. Paret-Peintre is certainly still in contention with 84 points, but the Frenchman proved to be the weakest of the three on Friday. In Stage 20 on Saturday, the riders will have to tackle four grueling mountain passes: Col de la Croix-de-Fer, Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier, and Col de Sarenne. So there will be plenty of points up for grabs.

"You're going to keep this tomorrow, right?" Pogacar asked Carapaz meaningfully after the finish at Alpe d'Huez, patting the polka-dot jersey he had just received. The Slovenian rider from UAE Emirates-XRG could, in theory, do whatever he wants and still claim the polka-dot jersey on Saturday, but on Friday he seemed to be setting the stage for others to go for it.

After his stage win, Pogacar said that, in principle, he would stick with Isaac del Toro, who could finish third in the general classification and thus also take the white jersey to Paris. With five stage wins in this Tour de France, Pogacar has certainly proven himself—that seemed to be the message. If Carapaz is in the mix on Saturday, there’s still a big fish in the pond.

Perhaps Carapaz could have won the stage on Friday as well, but he decided to take a gamble in a group with Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike)—even with a stage win already under his belt. It played right into the hands of the closing-in Pogacar. “I’m really happy for you, man. This was a stage for you,” Carapaz told Pogi afterward.

The broad smile on Carapaz’s face shows that he’s satisfied with his performance so far. “Today we had only one goal, and that was the mountains jersey. I’m glad I have the jersey, and now we have a mission heading toward Paris. I’m going to recover well now, and Saturday will be an important day. There are a lot of points at stake, so I’m going to give it my all—if my legs can handle it.”