Pogacar set to equal Tour record as Carapaz wins stageImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Pogacar is set for a fifth Tour win – but Carapaz, right, will take the king of the mountains polka dot jerseyByMatt WarwickBBC Sport Senior JournalistPublished1 hour agoTadej Pogacar is set to secure a record-equalling fifth Tour de France after a dramatic stage 20 saw Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz clinch victory on Alpe d’Huez as Sepp Kuss crashed twice while leading in the last few kilometres.If Pogacar avoids a race-ending crash on Sunday’s final stage to Paris, in which the overall standings are traditionally not contested, he will become the joint-most successful rider in the Tour’s history alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.Pogacar, 27, of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, finished the three-week Grand Tour’s ‘queen’ stage in fourth place after helping his 22-year-old Mexican team-mate Isaac del Toro provisionally seal third place on the overall podium and the young rider classification’s white jersey. The pair crossed the line together with their arms around each other’s shoulders after Pogacar paced a suffering Del Toro up the final climb.Pogacar will claim his fifth overall yellow jersey in Paris by six minutes and 26 seconds over Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, after Evenepoel finished the stage in second, 26 seconds behind Carapaz, after a late charge.”I did my best to help Isaac,” stated Pogacar afterwards. “Massive respect for what all the guys have been doing in the past three weeks. I finally experienced [being a domestique] myself and I already before appreciate [the] work of team-mates, but now it’s like another level.”It was goosebumps [as we crossed the line together]. [It] was fantastic and one for the memories.”On his future, he added: “I definitely will not be doing this for too much [of a] long time, I think. Isaac showed great potential, but we don’t put any pressure yet on Isaac.” Race organisers ASO declared during the stage that Sunday’s finale will have its distance reduced from 133km to 89km after the redirection of emergency services to help tackle devastating wildfires in the south-west of the country.
Traditionally, the final stage sees the sport’s sprinters battle for the line on the famous Champs Elysees cobbles, but a new section over Montmartre allows riders with more sustained power the potential to steal a breakaway win.
