Stage 20: Le Bourg-d'Oisans → Alpe d'Huez - Carapaz conquers the Alpe, the contest lives its night of fire

Croix de Fer, Télégraphe, Galibier at 2642m... and the Alpe for dessert. Richard Carapaz devoured this monster of 5600 meters of elevation gain to win solo, with Remco Evenepoel and Sepp Kuss in his wake. Pogacar, meanwhile, keeps his yellow jersey without flinching.

Out of 254 ballots, only four predictors got it right on the winner: Brecht, AdrDubo, Louka and Juju. Four out of 254, just like at Orcieres-Merlette in stage 18 - Carapaz clearly reserves his favors for the rare chosen few. The Ecuadorian nationality caught almost everyone off guard: 9 players out of 253 had picked it. On the other hand, the Carapaz-Evenepoel-Kuss podium was validated by 141 players out of 254, and the solo finish didn't surprise many (211/254). On the yellow jersey kept by Pogacar, opinions were more divided: only 74 out of 254 had voted against a change. For the best Franco-Belgian, Evenepoel 2nd allowed MvpCrack, Pistache, EnzoLaFleche, WannesVelo, BilalKoers, Steph 🦄, MarcoTifosi, QuentinH, AdamCed and maxime patin to grab precious points.

The performance of the day goes undisputed to AdrDubo: 54 points on this stage alone, a climb of 49 places to reach 52nd overall. Carapaz found, podium validated, a big stage like we dream of. Brecht follows with 49 points (236th overall, +17), MertRub completes the top 3 of the day with 41 points, RemiGravel scores 39 points and climbs 37 places to 169th position, and Louka (36 pts, +29, 122nd) and WilBri (34 pts, +32, 102nd) end the day smiling.

At the top of the general standings, maxime patin holds firm: 682 points, 14 stages finished in the lead, 17 points ahead of Hubogoss (665). The contest's yellow jersey doesn't move. Mich_Mich remains 3rd at 569. Further down, TuurB gains 3 places (14th), ThierryMons gains 4 (22nd), Tifo achieves the most impressive climb of the mid-field with +7 (25th). Conversely, Lauragoffin drops 7 spots (29th) and BaptisteCol74 plummets 18 (73rd). The 68 players who stayed at zero tonight will appreciate that Alpe d'Huez is as merciless in the game as it is on the road.