Key events
Here’s our race report
Points /green jersey standings
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1. Jonathan Milan (ITA) Lidl – Trek 332
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2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates – XRG 257
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3. Biniam Girmay (ERI) Intermarché – Wanty 196.
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Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma – Lease a Bike 165
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5. Tim Merlier (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step 156
King of the Mountains standings
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1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates – XRG 105
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2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma – Lease a Bike 89
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3. Lenny Martinez (FRA) Bahrain Victorious 80
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4. Thymen Arensman (NED) INEOS Grenadiers 65
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5. Ben O’Connor (AUS) Team Jayco AlUla 51
General classification standings
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1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates – XRG 66:55:42
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2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma – Lease a Bike +4:26
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3. Florian Lipowitz (GER) Red Bull – BORA – +11:01
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4. Oscar Onley (GBR) Team Picnic PostNL +11:23
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5. Primoz Roglic (SLO) Red Bull – BORA – +12:49
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6. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale +15:36
Team -
7. Kévin Vauquelin (FRA) Arkéa – B&B Hotels +16:15
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8. Tobias Johannessen (NOR) Uno-X Mobility +18:31
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9. Ben Healy (IRL) EF Education – EasyPost +25:41
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10. Ben O’Connor (AUS) Team Jayco AlUla +29:19
Oscar Onley spoke to reporters and looked done in by his efforts, he didn’t make much sense. “I kept my cool, but I still felt good just I know that I follow those guys when the attack when I think they should at the end or his shoulder at the end that the line three hold there….the team were really good.”
Twenty-two seconds from the podium now. I mean, you must be excited I go for the last mountain stage.
“Yeah, Yeah, that’s. I don’t know. That’s, uh. That’s not much. We’ll give everything tomorrow.”
That’s the lot from me. John Brewin will bring you the rest of the reaction. Thanks for reading.
Did Ben O’Connor believe he could win the Queen Stage?
“No, not at all. But I felt much better today from the start. I was pretty active.
“Probably the point where you realise you could have a shot was the top of the Madeleine, when Jonas and Pogi came across, and we were still with them across the top of the summit. It was a perfect opportunity to go in the valley.
“This is a climb I had good memories of because I rode for my [former AG2R] teammate, Felix Gall, to win there … yeah, it was pretty sweet to do it again, but this time it’s me who puts my hands up in the air.
“It’s a rough race. It’s the biggest race in the world, but it’s for sure the cruellest. I’ve wanted to have another victory for so many years now. I’ve been fighting for third and fourths, but I couldn’t be more proud of myself, and the boys. They backed me every single day through this whole race, even in the rough times. Thanks to everyone at Jayco-AlUla. It’s what the team needed, and what I needed.”
“It was a brutal day,” Vingegaard says to reporters at the finish. “I’m not sure if I’ve ever done such a hard stage in the Tour. I felt good, the team felt good. We had big plans. We tried to go early … today everyone was 100% behind the plan. It gives me so much motivation when I have a team like this working for me.”
What happened before the final climb?
“We didn’t want to work together [I presume he means Visma and the other teams in front]. Lipowitz went up the road, and we waited for our teammates before the Col de la Loze.”
Is Pogacar unbeatable now?
“No, I think we were pretty equal today, even if he took a few second at the end. The Tour is not over.”
One reporter asks: “Still?”
“Still.”
“I think they threw the kitchen sink at them,” Matt White says of the Visma tactics. “It just didn’t work out … they went earlier than we expected.”
“What percentage of the gap between Vingegaard and Pogacar do you chalk up to fitness/condition of the riders vs their respective teams’ tactics?” asks Alexander on email.
“Visma always had a hard task ahead this year but they seem to be shooting themselves in the foot every chance they get. Their decisions only seem to make sense if they’ve given up on Vingegaard’s GC chances and are trying to get additional stage wins, so the tour’s not a total failure. If they’re as committed to the GC as much as they claim publicly, then their tactics have been a masterclass in poor decision-making.
“It looks like this team’s glory days are behind them and I’d expect the collapse to be exacerbated as riders inevitably leave for teams with clear priorities.”
Pogacar has stretched his GC lead over Vingegaard to 4min 26sec.
Top 10 on Stage 18
1) O’Connor 5hr 03min 47sec
2) Pogacar +1min 45sec
3) Vingegaard +1min 54sec
4) Onley +1min 58sec
5) Rubio +2min
6) Gall +2min 25sec
7) Roglic +2min 46sec
8) A Yates +3min 03sec
9) Johannessen +3min 09sec
10) Kuss +3min 26sec
Reaction and confirmation of the standings coming up …
Roglic rolls in, a minute or so behind Pogacar. A brilliant ride from the Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe man.
Now Kuss comes in. Will Onley be in third tonight? Here comes Lipowitz …
Pogacar attacks Vingegaard on the final slopes! He burns off Rubio and claims second place. The Slovenian doesn’t even stand up on the pedals, he just rides away from his rival and further strengthens his iron grip on the battle for GC.
Pogacar finished second, a handful of seconds in front of Vingegaard in third.
Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) wins stage 18
An incredible ride from the Jayco AlUla rider. He climbs up, almost into the clouds at the ski resort of Courchevel, and claims the second Tour de France stage victory of his career. Phenomenal performance. The Australian punches the air and roars with happiness.
500m to go: Vingegaard fails to shake off Pogacar. Plus ça change.
Oscar Onley goes with the two GC favourites! Can he make the podium?
1km to go: Flamme rouge for O’Connor! He is still 2min 42sec ahead of the yellow jersey group!
Vingegaard attacks his rival but Pogacar immediately responds and marks his man.
1.5km to go: O’Connor of Jayco AlUla looks like a man who knows he’s got this in the bag! He rides on strongly, pumping past countless screaming fans, onwards to his fourth career win at a grand tour, and his second at the Tour de France, the greatest of them all.
Truth is, Vingegaard isn’t on bad form at all, but Pogacar is just too strong.
2km to go: Polka-dot rain caps, doubtless given out by the publicity caravan, are the order of the day among fans on the higher slopes on the way to Courchevel.
There is a party atmosphere but we are not seeing the epic duel among the GC contenders that some hoped for.
2km to go: Rubio stands up on the pedals, presumably only trying to protect his second place, but perhaps he doesn’t know how far ahead O’Connor now is.
Unless he blows up spectacularly, O’Connor has got this in the bag, he looks really strong.
2.7km to go: Rubio, previously dropped by O’Connor, is 2min 05sec down. The Pogacar group is 2min 50sec down on O’Connor still.
3.5km to go: Pogacar rides on, ever upwards. He looks comfortable. Narvaez, his teammate, has popped but Adam Yates is still there and is setting the pace, making everyone else suffer.
Will Roglic be able to overhaul Lipowitz in GC, after all? The German is 30sec down on his teammate.
4km to go: Kuss and Gall are dropped as UAE continue to set the pace.
Ben O’Connor has over three minutes, still, but only just: it’s a 3min 02 sec lead on Pogacar.
4.5km to go: Adam Yates leads Pogacar through a loud gaggle of fans. Is Pogacar about to launch? Or is he happy with the situation as it stands? It’s not like he needs any more time in GC, is it?
4.5km to go: “Visma’s tactics make absolutely no sense to me,” writes Marcus. “How did they let this get away? If Jonas needs to make up 4 minutes, why does he always wait until the very end to launch his attacks? And if you’re going to wait, why do they keep setting the pace rather than letting UAE drive?”
5km to go: Ben O’Connor already has a a Tour stage win on his palmarès – he triumphed in Tignes, another ski resort, in 2021. He also has stage victories at the Giro and Vuelta. Can he make it No 2 at the Tour? He hits a steep section with hundreds of fans yelling on either side of the road.
6km to go: O’Connor powers on up the climb. He looks in flying form but you never know when a rider might blow up on an ascent of this difficulty. Certainly it looks like he’s eaten and drunk enough to be in great shape for a final blast up the mountain. He is holding his lead at over 3min – it’s 3min 16sec at the moment. It’s looking good!
7km to go: “Spontaneously, I’ve just booked to go to Paris for the finale on Sunday to cheer on Pogi,” writes Sally. “I’ve only booked flights and haven’t planned anything else yet – any suggestions from anyone for the best place to view?”
As it’s a new feature for the final stage, personally I’d try to get on or near the climb in Montmarte (that will be tackled three times). I guess you’d have to arrive quite early to get a good spot though. Regardless of where you are it will be very exciting to be there – enjoy.
8km to go: Still over 3min advantage for O’Connor over the yellow jersey group. This is looking good for O’Connor and Jayco-AlUla right now … but there is an attack looming from Pogacar, you feel.
O’Connor is now among a thick knot of fans on a big left-hand turn.
“If they start attacking in the next kilometre this advantage could come down very, very quickly,” remarks Kelly on commentary.
9km to go: Narvaez and Adam Yates lead Pogacar up the mountain. This is all set up for a devastating attack from Pogacar on the steepest slopes.
10km to go: Roglic and Vauquelin were dropped from that group of favourites. Roglic has got back in, but the Frenchman is struggling.
O’Connor still has 3min 35sec on the Pogacar group. Immense effort.
Lipowitz is now under half a minute ahead of the group of favourites. It looked like he was in danger of dropping like a stone when he fell behind on the Col de la Madeleine, so this is a very good recovery from the young German.
10km to go: “The key thing for Craig is to decide what sort of stage or stages he wants to see,” emails Tim. “Then make sure you get the announcement of the route when it’s released in November, then book accommodation ASAP, especially if you want to see a mountain stage! Then relax and plan the rest at your leisure!”
11km to go: UAE Team Emirates XRG take it up now. Simon Yates is done. Narvaez and Adam Yates are there. Suddenly it’s the race leader’s team setting the pace.
“I think they [Visma] threw it away,” says Kelly.
12.5km to go: Back down the road, Giro d’Italia winner Simon Yates is putting in a significant effort to set the pace in the group of favourites. Kuss remains glued to his wheel. Then Vingegaard.
The question in all of this … is Pogacar feeling good, or feeling jaded after what’s been a stressful day of defence already?
O’Connor is 3min 26sec ahead of the yellow jersey group. Lipowitz, still on his own, is the third “group” on the road, about 40sec in front of the group of favourites.
13km to go: O’Connor, cheered on by Steve Cummings alongside in the team car, is giving this everything he’s got. Cummings hands over a bottle. The Australian is already 44sec in front of Rubio. A massive effort. But will he have enough?