“Tadej Pogacar just destroyed everyone in this race” – Chris Froome stunned by record-breaking Alpe d’Huez demolition
CyclingSaturday, 25 July 2026 at 10:09
Chris Froome hailed Tadej Pogacar’s Alpe d’Huez victory as “nothing short of remarkable” after the Tour de France leader erased a deficit of more than three minutes and produced the fastest reported ascent of the legendary climb.
Pogacar attacked with around 11 kilometres remaining, caught the survivors of the breakaway inside the closing two kilometres and dropped Richard Carapaz and Lenny Martinez beneath the flamme rouge. His reported climbing time of 35:27 bettered Marco Pantani’s long-standing 1997 benchmark by more than a minute.
“That’s a pretty epic climb we just watched there,” Froome said on TNT Sports’ The Breakaway. “What Tadej just did there was pretty special. All the viewers can be pretty happy they witnessed that because that was a record-setting time up there.”
Exact Alpe d’Huez comparisons can vary slightly according to the timing points used, but Pogacar’s performance comfortably surpassed the benchmark most commonly attached to Pantani’s 1997 ascent.
Froome watches Pogacar wipe out three-minute deficit
A 42-rider move had built a substantial advantage before the final climb, leaving Carapaz, Martinez, Sepp Kuss and Thymen Arensman among those still in contention for the stage.
The gap remained above three minutes when Pogacar made his move. Adam Yates briefly contributed after dropping back from the breakaway, but the yellow jersey completed most of the pursuit alone as the leaders began attacking one another further up the mountain.
Carapaz repeatedly tried to dislodge Martinez and Kuss, yet none could establish the separation required to resist Pogacar’s approach. Arensman was caught with seven kilometres remaining before the gap to the front collapsed through the final bends.
“It really looked as if the breakaway was going to get it there with Carapaz and Kuss leading the way,” Froome said. “But Tadej Pogacar just destroyed everyone in this race. What he did there was nothing short of remarkable.”
Froome won the Tour de France four times and built his success around some of the defining mountain performances of the previous era. Pogacar’s ride still left him describing the stage as something viewers should feel fortunate to have witnessed.
The Slovenian became only the second rider after Geraint Thomas to win on Alpe d’Huez while wearing the yellow jersey. Unlike Thomas in 2018, Pogacar reached the foot of the climb with the stage apparently belonging to the breakaway before hunting down every rider ahead of him.
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Fifth Tour victory within reach
Pogacar’s fifth stage victory of this Tour extended his general classification lead over Remco Evenepoel to 7:11. With only one final mountain stage and the Paris finale remaining, he is closing in on a record-equalling fifth overall victory.
Froome also raised the prospect of Pogacar targeting the Vuelta a Espana, the only Grand Tour missing from his palmares.
“Who knows how much longer he’s going to be going on?” he said. “No doubt he’ll be taking on the Vuelta next as well, because that’s the only big goal missing from his archive really.”
That question belongs beyond the Tour. Pogacar still has one final Alpine stage to negotiate, while UAE Team Emirates – XRG are also defending Isaac del Toro’s narrow advantage over Paul Seixas in the fight for third place and the white jersey.
Whatever follows, Alpe d’Huez has supplied the signature image of Pogacar’s 2026 Tour: the yellow jersey attacking with the breakaway more than three minutes ahead, swallowing the entire move and leaving one of the race’s greatest champions astonished by what he had seen.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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Rafionain-Glas25-07-2026 - A rider even more easy to dislike than armstrong or Jasper Philipsen.
Andrew25-07-2026 - Guy in white is the problem.PaulB8tson25-07-2026
- His main problem is his attitude. He was visibly angry when he crossed the line, just ahead the incredible Carapaz.Hills3325-07-2026
- If you wheel suck all the way then you have no reason to complainabstractengineer25-07-2026
- nobody is refusing tests, everybody is asking about the threshold to test between 11 pm to 6am. Strong evidence that will result in a positive test. that is the bar. Why coz disrupting sleep will affect performance badly. It goes against the spirit and rules. I expect Jonas and Pogi to test positiveabstractengineer25-07-2026
- I heard a gossip that Pogi wakes up every morning thinking about: "Who can I give a stage win today? ... He gave it to DelToro, Remco, Carapaz and maybe now it's time for Seixas or Martinez. It's gift-giving time, Christmas bells are ringing early this year :))mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales25-07-2026
- people will do everything to discredit his performances but good for him for showing the haters wrong after everyone saying he'd be dropped first mountain stage and that DT and seixas would destroy himbruins3025-07-2026
- that's not what he said . . .mij25-07-2026
- You didn't deserve it Lenny, you just let kuss and carapaz do all the job but you want to reap their hard work rewardZamorano25-07-2026
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