"A total of 58 kilometers of climbing" - Lance Armstrong argues that anything can happen on stage 19 of the Tour de France
Cycling
Although Lance Armstrong has made it clear in his podcast The Move that he believes Tadej Pogacar has the Tour de France all but won against Jonas Vingegaard, he believes that stage 19 with a finish in Isola 2000 and a short route with three long climbs strung together without a break can make anything happen.
Let's remember that the Slovenian is just over 3 minutes ahead of the Dane, whom he has clearly dominated in all the high mountain stages so far. The winner of the last two Tours showed weakness a couple of days ago against Remco Evenepoel, whom he is 2 minutes behind in the standings. All in all, today's stage suits the Dane better than the Belgian.
Armstrong explains what can happen on a day with such a brutal set of climbs which include the Col de Vars (18.9Km; 5.6%), Cime de la Bonnette (23.1Km; 6.8%; 2798 meters of altitude)) and a summit finish in Isola 2000 (16.1Km; 7.1%).
"The guys are blown out, the race seems decided, but anything can happen, you have to race to the finish line. It's a disgusting day, there are 3 days left until Nice and today there are 4400 meters of elevation gain, it's a short stage of 144 kilometers and on the profile all we see are 3 long climbs, a total of 58 kilometers of climbing."
Possibility for the breakaway?
George Hincapie, meanwhile, points out that there are still 11 teams that have yet to win and that they will try to make sure the breakaway makes it to the finish. With only three days of racing remaining (one of them being a time-trial where the GC favourites will undoubtedly fight for victory), most teams are on their absolute last moments to take some success out of this race.
"Another big breakaway is expected, there are 11 teams that haven't won yet," he said. "I'm sure INEOS is trying, that Red Bull is still trying with Jai Hindley, we'll see what those in the general classification do, Pogacar has called the queen stage of the Tour".
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Raise thine hand if the money you have made for retirement slips away on poor investments.Most of us will outlive our financial comforts because we don't have the financial acumen to ensure a comfortable lifelong retirement and that is a statistical fact not my opinion.Many millionaires have pissed their money away or had it taken away by so called conniving "financial advisors".The world of wealth is a dangerous place that most of us will never experience nor appreciate.
Brucegel15-11-2026 - You are interested in Pogi for one reason only, you feel like you are somehow related because you share some vague geographical identity. Other than that you have very little interest in cycling as all your posts show, if it can’t be connected to Pogi you have nothing to post. That said, recent activity here shows we are attracting quite a crowd from his region.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
- From knowing past cycling stars with shops I can only say, think it through. Not only is it mundane after a while but it really doesn’t take you out of the limelight, in the end you’ll be trying to stay away from the place yourself whilst all your fans keep coming for you.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
- Careful investment? I think he can live very comfortably with zero investments, what does he need more? The world would do well if more people set a target for how much they need or would make them “happy” and then stop worrying about perpetually having to make more.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
- Yes, Roglic could theoretically have beaten Sepp. Jonas must have had complete confidence that he could come back and win the Vuelta another year. Visma had not allowed Roglic to ride the Tour that year, so his future did not look so bright, despite his narrow Giro win..Hills3315-11-2026
- So far, a good series about riders before my time, even if the text feels AI generated like so much on this site. About the rider, he seems like one of many who are active fan favorites but don’t survive in the stories of cycling, a few decades later - I didn’t really know anything about him and this was a good read, thank you!RidesHills15-11-2026
- A calm, honest documentary, a bit of hagiography but mostly not too much. When he talks about a coffee shop, it aligns with several things in his world - he might want calm, but he does (more than a little bit) have someone near him (his fiancee) who makes sure that things happen the way he expects. Many atheletes have retired only to find out just how much others were taking care of their lives for them. If they work out (I'm old, things happen), I am sure it will take a renegotiation, which is a good thing. I truly enjoyed watching it, seeing him, seeing her, seeing the whole system built around him.RidesHills15-11-2026
- You do? My mother grew up around Bleiburg (Pliberk), across the border in Austria . My grandparents lived close to the train station in Bleiburg, and I spent a lot of the 70s and 80s there. The "Jugo" train of my youth went to Dravograd or Maribor, exotic places (behind the wall) at the time. What a moment that was, the 10 days war of '91 - times sure have changed.RidesHills15-11-2026
- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
Loading
🤩 𝑪𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒆 𝒍𝒂 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆. #TDF2024
Write a comment