Richard Carapaz wins Stage 20, his second stage of 2026 Tour de France

Stage 20 of the 2026 Tour de France featured a grueling 170.9-kilometer (106.2 miles) mountain challenge from Le Bourg d'Oisans to the Alpe d'Huez – and a frightening crash. With over 5,000 meters of vertical elevation, the most in this year’s race, the stage lived up to its billing as the “Queen St

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Stage 20 of the 2026 Tour de France featured a grueling 170.9-kilometer (106.2 miles) mountain challenge from Le Bourg d'Oisans to the Alpe d'Huez – and a frightening crash.

With over 5,000 meters of vertical elevation, the most in this year’s race, the stage lived up to its billing as the “Queen Stage,” with Richard Carapaz claiming the victory, dashing American Sepp Kuss’s hopes of a historic win.

The day opened with the relentless Col de la Croix de Fer, the tour’s longest and one of its most demanding ascents. Carapaz launched an early attack, cresting the summit solo and collecting mountain points. On the Category 1 Col du Télégraphe, he again surged ahead to reach the top first. Conquering the Col du Galibier, Carapaz effectively sealed

his triumph in the mountains classification and claimed the polka dot jersey in this year's Tour.

Kuss surged ahead on the final major ascent, the Col de Sarenne, determined to break the USA's five-year Tour stage drought.

However, disaster struck when Kuss crashed into a wall out of a tunnel in the final meters of the climb, but remounted and continued on in first. Yet, he was pushing it too far on the descent and crashed again on a sharp bend, only narrowly escaping serious injury thanks to the safety netting that prevented a disastrous fall off the mountain.

Seizing the moment, Richard Carapaz launched a decisive attack in the wake of Kuss’s misfortune and powered past to secure his second stage victory of this year’s Tour.

😱 OH NO, SEPP KUSS! The American crashes on a bend after having already had a scare a little earlier. He lets Richard Carapaz race away to victory.

😱 OH NON SEPP KUSS ! L'Américain chute dans un virage après s'être déjà fait une frayeur un peu plus tôt. Il laisse Richard… pic.twitter.com/4Pwv8pvWV8

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 25, 2026