Double crash for Kuss hands KOM Carapaz second stage victory after crazy stage 20 finale
CyclingSaturday, 25 July 2026 at 17:40
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Follow us on GoogleRichard Carapaz has secured his second stage victory in the Tour de France. The mountain jersey wearer fought a thrilling battle with Sepp Kuss and overtook the American after the latter crashed twice in the final kilometers. The Visma | Lease a Bike climber was just barely passed by Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). Tadej Pogacar adopted a domestique role and secured his Tour victory.
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For a brief moment, the terrain remained flat, but after 6 kilometers, the riders faced the first monstrous climb, the Col de la Croix de Fer. Leading up to it, a group of six had already broken away, of whom Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL), Xabier Azparren (Pinarello-Q36.5), and Georg Steinhauser (EF) remained ahead the longest.
Visma | Lease a Bike initially set the pace in the pack, where we saw quite a few big names at the front. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), after his poor day on Friday, frequently made his presence felt at the front, while Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Thymen Arensman (INEOS) also showed initiative. A group including Ayuso and Arensman, as well as Richard Carapaz (EF), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), the Visma quartet Bruno Armirail, Davide Piganzoli, Sepp Kuss and Jorgenson, and Jai Hindley of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, was allowed to ride away. The small peloton, prompted by UAE, was fine with that.
Carapaz electric (again), Paret-Peintre struggles
With just over 3 kilometers to go, Carapaz accelerated for the mountain points. Paret-Peintre tried to follow, but failed. Meanwhile, Mads Pedersen had sprinted away from the peloton, after having already been dropped earlier on the Croix de Fer. This was all with an eye on the intermediate sprint, which was located in the valley after the first climb.
Carapaz reached the summit first, Paret-Peintre second. With that, the Ecuadorian increased his lead over the Frenchman in the mountain classification to 12 points. The two found each other on the descent, just ahead of the other leaders. Pedersen soon joined those leaders, and thus he would be able to strike a good blow later in the battle for the green jersey.
Pedersen and Carapaz safe, Van Wilder drops out
Pedersen took the full haul at the intermediate sprint and thus secured his green jersey: he only had to finish in Paris. Carapaz was also looking to secure his own jersey. The Ecuadorian saw rival Paret-Peintre drop on the Col du Télégraphe and took ten points himself: only Pogacar could (mathematically speaking) still overtake him.
The Tour did have to swallow one setback, however. Ilan Van Wilder crashed hard on the descent of the Croix de Fer and could not continue. The Belgian from Soudal Quick-Step had ridden an excellent Tour and was in twelfth place, but had to give up on the penultimate day. The Tour continued, with a fierce battle in the general classification. The presence of Ayuso meant problems for Lenny Martinez.
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Pogačar forced to work on the front
The Frenchman from Bahrain Victorious put his men to work, but on the Galibier, UAE Team Emirates-XRG took over again. In the peloton, we saw Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello - Q36.5) in trouble, but at the front, things exploded. Carapaz tore the breakaway apart: Riccitello, Hindley, and Kuss were able to follow, while Ayuso lost some time at the summit.
Meanwhile, things had exploded on the Galibier. After Felix Grossschartner had done his work, Tadej Pogacar took over. The yellow jersey wearer took the lead for teammate Isaac Del Toro and tore the group to shreds. Only Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) could follow. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) lost some ground.
Trouble among the leaders, what will the Sarenne bring?
The Dane managed to rejoin Maxim Van Gils on the descent together with Nicolas Prodhomme, which meant Evenepoel and Seixas gained a teammate. On the Galibier, Del Toro struggled: would Seixas sense his chance on the Sarenne? It didn't look like it would be for the stage win, as the leaders had a substantial lead. They did start bickering, however.
Hindley did not do any work at the front, and that frustrated Ayuso. Kuss, however, told him that he had to ride for his general classification: so no complaining. Behind them, Pogacar hammered away as a domestique. He didn't look back, and at the foot of the Col de Sarenne, on the other side of the Alpe d'Huez, the gap was only 3.30 minutes. And the attackers just kept messing around.
Kuss and Carapaz, in particular, gave each other little quarter. Hindley tried to take advantage, but couldn't get away. Kuss countered: Ayuso and Carapaz paid the price for that acceleration. Moments later, Hindley was also out of the running: the American from Visma | Lease a Bike went solo. The group of favorites had closed the gap considerably, but now the climber gave himself a chance.
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Thrilling battle between Kuss and Carapaz
He went solo, but was joined again not much later by Hindley and Carapaz. However, a second attack on the final steep sections gave him more breathing room. He reached the summit twenty seconds ahead of Carapaz, after which he had to defend his lead in the final undulating kilometers. Meanwhile, the group of favorites had also split significantly.
Decathlon CMA CGM did work for Seixas, but that was precisely when Seixas started to struggle. Del Toro saw this and accelerated. Only Pogacar, Evenepoel, and Martinez could follow. That group gained about thirty seconds on the nineteen-year-old Frenchman, who saw his podium chances dwindle enormously. He had to fight for his classification with Skjelmose and the dropped Ayuso.
Kuss crashes... twice!
Kuss saw the incredibly tough Carapaz closing in again on the rolling roads to Alpe d'Huez. It became a thrilling battle, and that took its toll on Kuss. The American fell on a downhill section but got back up quickly. Carapaz smelled blood (perhaps literally) and passed the leader when he crashed again. It was a nightmare for poor Kuss.
Carapaz naturally kept riding at full speed and started the final four uphill kilometers solo. But Kuss hadn't given up yet. He fought for all he was worth, but behind him, the favorites were closing in again due to all the commotion. Evenepoel accelerated and dropped Del Toro. Pogacar took the lead for his team leader and let the Belgian do his thing.
Could he still ride to the front? Carapaz pulled away from Kuss again slightly, but Evenepoel kept chipping away at his lead. However, he arrived too late: Carapaz won his second, and poor, poor Kuss had to settle for third place: Evenepoel took him at the finish line. Behind them, Pogacar and Del Toro celebrated their own victory.
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David Bavin-HobbsChief Editor
David has been working in the sports & cycling industry for 16 years. Covering racing, business and technology, he has worked in communications for cycling companies, teams, and as a journalist. His proudest achievement is winning the first bike race he ever entered. He hasn't won a race since.
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Latest Comments
- - Qué tragedia. Muito respeito para a família. The investigator’s timeline helps, but still feels like a systemic safety failure on open-road races during descents.jeremya16-08-2026
- - Can someone explain what the broom wagon actually signifies? If it hadn’t passed, why was a civilian car allowed on course at all? I’m confused how those protocols work when riders are scattered.tourdeforce916-08-2026
- - Sorry, but this reads a bit like passing the buck. If signage was the only control at that junction, that’s not enough. A single marshal could have prevented this. Operational plan might’ve been followed, but was it adequate?gearguru3316-08-2026
- - If the GNR says it’s “humanly impossible” to cover every access point, shouldn’t organisers rethink neutral service positioning or add mobile motos for gaps on fast descents? This was a secondary access, but speed on that downhill made it primary in practice.jennifer1916-08-2026
- - Heartbreaking. The detail about the broom wagon not yet passing is crucial—explains why Finlay thought the road was still sealed. Condolences to his family and team. RIP Fin.robert6516-08-2026
- - Tears on the front row for NSN… goosebumps. Chapeau to the bunch for letting them lead the pace. Esto es el verdadero espíritu del ciclismo.julien15-08-2026
- - Not sure about the “put it in perspective” line referencing other deaths. I get what he meant, but it lands a little cold in this context. The sport must own its safety issues.jeremya15-08-2026
- - Sorry, bit confused—how was Tarling racing Portugal but commemorated in Norway? Are there multiple races at the same time and teams pay tribute across events?robert6515-08-2026
- - Poels speaks from a place of pain, you can feel it. Losing Gino still casts a shadow. His point about rising frequency of tragedies is worrying—UCI needs to accelerate road safety reforms, motos, convoy management, and race routing.sprocketspiny15-08-2026
- - Heartbreaking. RIP Finlay. The neutralised start and minute’s silence in Norway were handled with real class by the peloton.patriciaw15-08-2026
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