3 : TRIPLE CROWN
Wearing the polka-dot jersey, Richard Carapaz won the third Tour de France stage of his career this Saturday at Alpe d’Huez. The Ecuadorian, who covered the final three kilometres of the climb to the Isère resort at an average speed of 24.7 km/h, secured a second win this year, following his victory two days earlier at Orcières-Merlette. This latest triumph came after his win at Superdévoluy during stage 17 of the 2024 edition.
27 : A MAN OF GRAND TOUR
With his victory at Alpe d’Huez, Richard Carapaz became the twenty-seventh rider in history to win at least three stages across the three Grand Tours. The Ecuadorian climber thus brings his total number of stage wins in three-week races to 10 (3 at the Tour and La Vuelta, 4 at the Giro). Among active riders, only five have achieved this feat : Tadej Pogacar (35 total wins), Primoz Roglic (22), Jonas Vingegaard (14), Mads Pedersen (12) and Michael Matthews (10). The record is still held by "The Cannibal" Eddy Merckx, who leads by a wide margin with 65 Grand Tour stage victories (34 at the Tour, 6 at La Vuelta, 25 at the Giro).
2 : SOUTH AMERICA CLAIMS BACK ALPE D’HUEZ
At the end of a stage featuring 5,450 metres of vertical gain, Richard Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian, and only the second South American rider to triumph at Alpe d’Huez. We have to go back to the 1984 Tour to find the last such winner. This year, Luis Herrera claimed victory at the legendary resort with a solo effort ahead of Laurent Fignon and Miguel Arroyo.
33 : WITH EXPERIENCE
By winning at Alpe d’Huez, Richard Carapaz drew on his experience to join the ranks of the three oldest winners at the summit of the famous 21 hairpins. At 33 years, 1 month and 26 days old, the former Olympic champion is surpassed only by the Spanish Carlos Sastre, who won in 2008 (and later the overall title) at the age of 33 years, 3 months and 1 day, and by the Portuguese rider Joaquim Agostinho, who won in 1979 at the age of 37 years, 3 months and 8 days. That year marked the very first time Alpe d’Huez hosted two consecutive stage finishes.
70 : A SECOND SKIN
By supporting his teammate Isaac del Toro throughout the stage particularly on the climb to the Col de Sarenne (averaging 22.0 km/h over 12.8 km at a 7.3 % gradient), Tadej Pogacar secured the 70th Yellow Jersey of his career. Only two five-time Tour de France winners — a feat the Slovenian aims to imitate this Sunday — have claimed the prestigious jersey as many times, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. This latest Yellow Jersey also marks the 90th time Pogacar has led the general classification of a Grand Tour, as the two-time world champion also holds twenty Maglia Rosa from the Giro d'Italia. While he has closed the gap to Miguel Indurain to just three jerseys, he remains far behind the record-holder Eddy Merckx and his tally of two hundred (111 at the Tour, 11 at La Vuelta, and 78 at the Giro).
358 : A MATTER OF INTERMEDIATE SPRINTS
Impressive on both the ascent and descent of the Col de la Croix de Fer this Saturday, Mads Pedersen all but secured the points classification by crossing the intermediate sprint at Saint-Julien-Mont-Denis in first place. The Danish holds an 82-point lead over his nearest rival Jasper Philipsen, with only 75 points still up for grabs during the stage in Paris. To make the difference, he amassed more than two-thirds of his current points total (527) in intermediate sprints (358). Consistent and aggressive across numerous hilly stages, the former world champion won eight intermediate sprints, thereby scoring a minimum of 12 points per road stage, peaking at 66 points during his victory in Foix on day four.
6 : IN THE MONEY TIME
By crossing in first position the Croix de Fer, Télégraphe and Galibier passes this Saturday (reaching the summit of the Galibier, the Tour’s highest road, at an average speed of 21.7 km/h), Richard Carapaz all but secured the second polka-dot jersey of his career, adding 65 points to his mountains classification tally. In the breakaway during the final three Alpine stages, the Ecuadorian claimed the iconic jersey with just two days remaining until the Tour’s finish, mirroring the scenario from 2024. Before the former Olympic champion, five other riders managed to snatch the polka-dot jersey at the very last moment. Giancarlo Bellini was the first to do so in 1976 (two days before Paris), followed much later by Samuel Sanchez in 2011 (also two days out), then Nairo Quintana in 2013 (one day), Chris Froome in 2015 (one day), and finally Tadej Pogacar in 2020 (one day)... at Carapaz's expense.
