Updated July 24, 22:53
That’s all she wrote. Pogacar smashed it on the Alpe d’Huez, setting an all-time record. No lead is insurmountable in cycling, and everybody has un jour sans. But. Let’s be realistic: this race has been won for quite some time. And it’s even more won now.
Here’s how the power rankings look.
1. Tadej Pogacar ↦
Last Year: 1st
Position: 1
We don’t really need to update Tadej’s write-up anymore. The four/five/six/seven (circle as appropriate) times Tour champion won his fourth/fifth/sixth/seventh stage (circle as appropriate) of this year’s race, cementing his role as inevitable overall winner/GOAT/conqueror of the universe (circle as appropriate).
We’re lucky to be able to watch such a rider. Remember it well, because even the people booing will be saying they watched him decades from now when his name is the stuff of legend.
2. Remco Evenepoel ↦
Last Year: DNF
Position: 2 (+7’11”)
Skinny Remco isn’t real, he can’t hurt you. But he can kick off a lot. Two stage wins, and sitting comfortably second overall – everything’s looking good for ꌗꀘꀤꈤꈤꌩ ꋪꍟꂵꉓꂦ. And keep the fans and motorbikes out of his way, please!
3. Isaac Del Toro ↥1
First Appearance
Position: 3 (+9’42”)
Del Toro looks to be finishing on the podium in his first Tour. Seixas isn’t too far behind him in the GC, but the Mexican seems to have the better climbing legs. And he’ll be using them tomorrow.
4. Paul Seixas ↧1
First Appearance
Position: 4 (+10’06”)
At over ten minutes down now, it’s clear that the suggestions he’d challenge Tadej Pogacar this year were somewhat optimistic. But it’s a tremendous debut for a literal teenager, and he still sits within reach of the white jersey and podium spot.
5. Juan Ayuso ↥1
Last Year: DNS
Position: 7 (+15’58”)
Not a great day in the saddle on the Alpe d’Huez for Ayuso, who now drops to seventh. There’s been a real final week shakeup in the top ten, but it’s too late for us to add riders to these rankings now.
6. Tom Pidcock ↧1
Last Year: DNS
Position: 9 (+21’30”)
Not a bad Tour from Pidcock, barring the stage win. He’s ignited the race, though in the cold light of day we certainly could’ve made a better Power Rankings wildcard addition in Carapaz.
7. Jonas Vingegaard ↦
Last Year: 2nd
Position: Abandoned
The two-time winner descends our power rankings, because we can’t very well keep him up at the top any more. We mean no disrespect, and were as disappointed and upset as anybody to see him abandon. He won a stage, wore yellow, and spent basically the rest of the race in second place until a crash forced him out of the race. Cycling is cruel.
8. Florian Lipowitz ↦
Last Year: 3rd
Position: Abandoned
The Tour ends with disappointment for Lipo, who crashed out of the Stage 16 time-trial and abandoned the race. It’s hard to truly gauge how his Tour might have looked if he’d made it all the way to the end, but he didn’t light up the first two weeks of the race.
Previous Rankings
| Rider | Current | Trend | Start | St. 1 | St. 2 | St. 3 | St. 4 | St. 5 | St. 6 | St. 7 | St. 8 | St. 9 | St. 10 | St. 11 | St. 12 | St. 13 | St. 14 | St. 15 | St. 16 | St. 17 | St. 18 | St. 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pogačar | 1 | ▬ 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Evenepoel | 2 | ▬ 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Del Toro | 3 | ▲ 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Seixas | 4 | ▼ 1 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Ayuso | 5 | ▲ 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Pidcock | 6 | ▼ 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Vingegaard | 7 | ▬ 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Lipowitz | 8 | ▬ 0 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |