Tadej Pogačar climbed into cycling folklore on Thursday, obliterating the legendary Alpe d'Huez climbing record on his way to a fifth stage win of this year's Tour de France.
The Slovenian reached the summit of the 13.8-kilometre climb, with its 21 hairpin bends, in 35 minutes and 27 seconds, tearing more than a minute off the mark Marco Pantani set in 1995 during one of the most feted rides in Tour history.
Pantani's time of 36:50, set the year he also won the Giro-Tour double, had stood for close to three decades as one of the sport's most revered benchmarks. Pogačar's assault on it, delivered in the heat of a live yellow-jersey fight rather than a solo raid on the record book, only added to the scale of the achievement.
Stage 19 covered 127.9 kilometres from Gap before finishing on the fabled Alpine climb. Pogačar launched his decisive attack with roughly 11.7 kilometres still to race, riding away from the rest of the general classification group and never looking back.
Lenny Martínez crossed the line second, six seconds down, with Richard Carapaz completing the podium a further three seconds back. Both were left shaking their heads at the pace UAE Team Emirates' leader had set on an ascent that has broken far lesser riders.
"It's really cool to win up here," Pogačar said afterwards, describing a "mad atmosphere all the way up the climb" as tens of thousands of fans lined the switchbacks, many in Slovenian colours.
The victory extended his overwhelming grip on this year's race. He now leads Remco Evenepoel by seven minutes and 11 seconds overall, a gap that makes a sixth Tour de France triumph an all-but-formal matter with just two stages remaining before Sunday's finish in Paris.
Alpe d'Huez has hosted Tour finishes since 1952 and carries a mythology matched by few climbs anywhere in sport, its names of past winners painted onto the road by fans each July. Pogačar's time now sits among the very fastest ever recorded there, alongside names such as Pantani, Lance Armstrong and Marco Giovannetti from cycling's most storied — and, in some cases, most scrutinised — eras.
With the overall standings settled in all but formality, attention now turns to Saturday's final mountain test and Sunday's ceremonial procession into Paris, where Pogačar is set to collect what would be a fifth career yellow jersey.
