Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar won Stage 19 — a mountainous, nearly 80-mile trek in the French Alps — shocking competitors as he mounted a furious rally with about 7.5 miles to go Friday.
More than three minutes behind the leaders at that point, he kicked into top gear to overtake Richard Carapaz of Ecuador and Lenny Martinez of France with almost a mile left on his way to his fifth stage victory this year and 26th in his career.
Pogacar increased his overall lead to 7 minutes, 11 seconds over Remco Evenepoel of Belgium after he moved from the base of Alpe d'Huez and finished the climb to the finish line at the summit.
The riders will return to the mountain Saturday for the penultimate trek of this year's race, traveling about 106 miles from Le Bourg D'Oisans to Alpe d'Huez in Stage 20.
That sets up the final stage Sunday as the cyclists ride into Paris in what should be another winner's ceremony for Pogacar of Slovenia, barring a crash or other unforseen event. He would join Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as five-time winners.
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Isaac del Toro of Mexico holds third place in the overall standings, followed by Paul Seixas, just 19, and fellow Frenchman Martinez.
Martinez finished six seconds behind Pogacar on Friday.
