Richard Carapaz soloed to his second win in three days, sealing the polka-dot jersey, after Sepp Kuss crashed twice on the final descent — nearly going off the road and into a deep ravine – he was very lucky in fact. He recovered to take a valiant 3rd, with second going to a fast-finishing Evenepoel.

Pogacar came in alongside teammate Del Toro, but could gave won the stage, however, he decided to pace the Mexican up the climb to ensure he would take the Best Young Rider classification and also – the real reward – 3rd on the GC, and hence a podium spot in Paris today.

“I did it with pleasure, and now I realise just how hard it is to work for someone else,” Pogacar said afterward. “Being able to cross the finish line together on Alpe d’Huez is memorable.” Pogačar, visibly emotional, continued: “It was goosebumps.” 

Asked what he’d said to Del Toro in the closing metres: “I said to him — don’t forget to pedal.”

Asked about their relationship in the team, Pogi said: “We clicked quite quickly when he came to the team. We had good energy around each other, good relationship, good humour. Then we did some races together, he was always there for me 100%.”

Del Tor had this to say:

“I don’t know why the guys support me so much. They want to see me in places that I am only dreaming of being.

They taught me to be resilient. I cannot feel more privileged. Tadej showed what he is like as a friend,” he said.

Crossing the line together proved an emotional moment for the Mexican.

“If you could see through the glasses, I was crying,” Del Toro said. “I was speechless.”

In the Points Classification, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has an unassailable lead heading into Paris.

“It’s nice,’ he said in his usual understated way. “Yeah, what a week and what a Tour this has been. One of my goals in my career is now accomplished, so absolutely incredible to close the book today and basically just have to finish the stage tomorrow.”

Top 10 GC after stage 20:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) — 72:53:44
2. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +6:26
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +9:42
4. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) +11:56
5. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) +13:02
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +14:59
7. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) +17:48
8. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +20:00
9. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) +29:28
10. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) +23:21

Top 10 stage 20:

1. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) — 4:59:39
2. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +26″
3. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) +31″
4. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:05
5. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) same time
6. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:07
7. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:15
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +2:55
9. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) same time
10. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) same time