Richard Carapaz won stage 20 of the Tour de France on the legendary climb to Alpe d'Huez, passing a crumbling Sepp Kuss inside the final kilometres to take his second stage victory in three days.

The Ecuadorian, who rides for EF Education-Easypost and won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, had already tasted success earlier in the week. On Saturday, he added the most famous finish in cycling to his collection — and sealed the king of the mountains title, the competition for the best climber in the race.

The penultimate stage covered 170.9 kilometres with 5,450 metres of climbing across three hors catégorie — the toughest classification — ascents, starting from Le Bourg d'Oisans and finishing atop Alpe d'Huez's 21 hairpin bends. The route crossed the Col de la Croix de Fer, the Col du Télégraphe and passed near the Col du Glandon, traversing both the Isère and Savoie departments through Valloire, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Saint-Sorlin-d'Arves.

Kuss, the American Visma-Lease a Bike rider who won the 2023 Vuelta a España, attacked alone from the early breakaway with about 25 kilometres remaining. He built a lead that looked strong enough to hold — until the road fought back. Kuss crashed once on a right-hand corner, then again coming out of a tunnel approaching Alpe d'Huez town. The second fall cost him momentum at the worst possible moment, and Carapaz swept past.

Behind the breakaway, the overall race leader Tadej Pogačar — chasing a third consecutive Tour title — deliberately held back. Rather than chase the stage win, the Slovenian sat up to help his teammate Del Toro defend the white jersey (awarded to the best young rider) and third place overall.

Nineteen-year-old French rider Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA-CGM ran out of energy on the final climb but is set to finish fourth in the general classification — the overall standings — 11 minutes and 56 seconds behind Pogačar. Britain's Tom Pidcock, riding for Pinarello-Q36.5, crossed the line 16th, nine minutes and three seconds down, and will finish ninth overall.

Denmark's Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek will claim the green points jersey — the sprinter's competition — by simply finishing Sunday's final stage in Paris. He leads Belgian Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech by 82 points, a margin that cannot be overhauled.

The final stage itself has been altered. Tour organisers confirmed a route change after France's Ministry of the Interior redeployed security forces away from the race to fight wildfires. The finale in Paris will go ahead, but under adjusted conditions.

For Carapaz, the stage was a study in persistence. Two wins in three days, the polka-dot jersey secured, and an Alpe d'Huez triumph to cap it. For Kuss, it was heartbreak written in gravel and stone — close enough to taste, far enough to sting.