Tour de France stage 20: Del Toro can count on Pogacar in podium battle vs Seixas and 'machine' Hoole

UAE Emirates-XRG not only had a strong showing in Stage 19 of the Tour de France on Friday, with Tadej Pogacar winning the stage, but also saw Isaac del Toro deliver a blow to Paul Seixas. The Mexican pulled away from the Frenchman of Decathlon CMA CGM in the final stretch and appears to be the favorite for the podium in Paris heading into Saturday’s decisive 20th stage.

It wasn’t all that surprising that Stage 19 at UAE was Pogacar’s. The Slovenian had never won on Alpe d’Huez before, so he checked another box off his to-do list—including smashing Marco Pantani’s record time. However, after his stage victory, the Tour de France overall leader also said that in Stage 20, all eyes at UAE will be on Del Toro, third place, and the white youth jersey.

In that regard, Del Toro already pulled off a small feat on Friday by beating Seixas by 4 seconds. Not much, but it was a statement. “The Alpe d’Huez was incredible. To be honest, I was pretty scared in the final stretch. Some of the turns were hard to judge, and I had a few scary moments. But in the end, I’m super happy.”

"The battle with Paul will be great again on Saturday," said the Mexican, who holds a lead of just 24 seconds over Seixas in the standings. "We’ll see how it turns out; I expect tomorrow to be much the same—and maybe even a little more chaotic. We don’t know exactly what to expect; it could be tougher."

Seixas’s comments after the finish of Stage 19 offered little hope regarding Decathlon CMA CGM’s chances for Saturday. The 19-year-old Frenchman was completely exhausted in the final stretch, during which his team did try to pick up the pace and put pressure on Del Toro. “It’s still a great performance; I still have a chance at the podium,” he concluded in French.

"Saturday is going to be tough; it’ll come down to pure strength. The guys put in a great performance today—everyone was at their best. Daan Hoole was still in the mix when there were 20 riders left. He’s a real machine. Tiesj and Matthews (Benoot and Riccitello, ed.) were also incredibly strong. I didn’t have the legs left to make a difference at the end, but I’m still in the race. I owe that to them.”

"I did what I could, but Tadej, Remco (Evenepoel, who finished as the second-best general classification rider behind Pogacar, ed.) and Isaac were better. Saturday, however, will be crucial for the general classification."