Tour de France Stage Report: Stage 18 was made for a big break day and we were not disappointed as the peloton let the escape take 15 minutes. From the break, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) held the chasers off to fight for the stage honours. Campenaerts was the fastest finisher ahead of Vercher and Kwiatkowski. There was no change on the GC.
Stage 18 finale
Victor Campenaerts won the eighteenth stage of the Tour de France. The Belgian of Lotto Dstny beat his fellow escapees Mattéo Vercher and Michal Kwiatkowski in Barcelonnette.
A big and emotional win for Victor Campenaerts
Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France general director: “The altimeter drops temporarily, although the sprinters will still have to go right to their limits in order to claim the final bouquet within their grasp. That’s down to the fact that once the peloton has admired Lake Serre-Ponçon, the day’s attackers will have a few hills to exploit as they seek to maintain their lead. A strong puncheur might be able to go clear on the Côte de Saint-Apollinaire, and they’ll even more opportunity to do so on the Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées.”
Stage 18 profile
Stage 18 from Gap to Barcelonnette is 179 kilometres long and includes six various climbs. After 15 kilometres there is the Col du Festre (13.8km at 4.3%). A break can make the use of this climb to make their escape. A descent takes the riders to the Côte de Corps (3.3km at 4.5%) followed by the Côte de Costes (2.6km at 6%). After 20 flat kilometres. the riders start the Col de Manse (6.3km at 3.7%) at the half-way point in the stage. Next up is the most difficult climb of the day: The Côte à Saint-Apollinaire (7.9km at 5.2%), this should cause the final selection amongst the GC contenders, anyone in trouble here is done. The Côte de Demoiselles Coiffées (6.4km at 3.8%) is the last categorised ascent of the day. From the top the riders still have 40 kilometres to go. A descent and a short climb of 2 kilometres brings the riders to a false flat. The last 8 kilometres are flat.
Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) will be looking for the ‘break of the day’
As expected, many riders wanted to be in the break of the day. World champion Mathieu van der Poel was very active, but so were many others. There were quite a few and some riders managed to take a gap, but at the foot of the first climb of the day, the Col du Festre (4km at 6.5%), everything was still together. A large group, including Wout van Aert and Frank van den Broek, but no Van der Poel, had a small lead. As the non climbers were dropped at the back.
Whatever you think of Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), you have to be impressed by him staying in the Tour when the only thing he can gain it a Tour finish
A few riders managed to cross to the lead group and the peloton took it easy. A small lead suddenly became a big one. Before the top of the Col du Festre, there was a leading group of 34 riders.
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The group included Wout Poels, Steff Cras, Victor Campenaerts, Geraint Thomas, Jai Hindley, Oier Lazkano, Michael Matthews, Ben Healy and Richard Carapaz. On the descent, Valentin Madouas and Dorian Godon were also able to join at the last minute. Oscar Onley had to drop back to the peloton due a puncture.
Two riders with a job still to do – Remco Evenepoel and Biniam Girmay
The leaders slowly took more and more time. They had over 7 minutes on the peloton, where UAE Team Emirates set the pace. Tim Wellens, who had previously been dropped, was on the front for a long time. It became obvious that they didn’t want to catch the leading group and so someone in the break would take the day’s victory.
There was 177.8 tough kilometres to cover to Barcelonnette
At the foot of the Côte à Saint-Apollinaire (7.9km at 5.2%) the leading group was still together, but that would not last long. Things started straight away on the first sections of this penultimate climb. After an attack from Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Healy gave it a bigger effort. Lemmen and Van den Broek, with others, responded, but they were all able to return. It was too difficult to get away on the not too steep slope.
No flat roads today – All either up or down
Scottish rider, Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-PostNL), had a good stage 17 with a 5th place – But no today
Healy attacked again and again Lemmen was immediately on his wheel. The Dutchman didn’t want to work, because he still had Van Aert behind him. The duo were caught. Lemmen then also neutralised attacks from Hindley, Matthews and Tobias Halland Johanessen. Several riders ran into problems, including Thomas, Van den Broek and the previously active Healy. Although, many of them were able to return just before the summit.
This could be one of the few day for a big break and Wout van Aert wanted to be part of it
USA Champion, Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease A Bike) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) were all at the front
Thomas was one of the riders who managed to return and then went on the attack on the road before the Côte de Demoiselles Coiffées, together with Alex Aranburu. A group of riders joined them, again with Bart Lemmen. The tireless Visma | Lease a Bike rider continued to impress, even when everything came back together. He was always on board when there was an attack. Only when Michał Kwiatkowski went just before the top, Lemmen had no answer.
Ben Healy was on the attack again
After a few solo kilometres, Kwiatkowski was joined by Campenaerts and Mattéo Vercher. Tobias Halland Johannessen was also on his way, but the Norwegian crashed in a descent. He dropped back into the third group with Van Aert. Ahead of them there was a second group, with Neilands, Hindley, Lazkano, Toms Skujiņš and Bart Lemmen. The five came into view of Campenaerts, Kwiatkowski and Vercher, but the three took more time. The Lemmen group were 45 seconds behind at 10 kilometres from the finish, the group with Van Aert was 30 seconds behind.
Nice day for a bike ride, but maybe not at the front of the race
These gaps were all too big to close. It would be a battle in Barcelonnette between Kwiatkowski, Campenaerts and Vercher. The Frenchman tried with a late lunge in the last kilometre. Kwiatkowski closed the gap, after which the sprint began. Kwiatkowski was stuck on the front. Before the Pole could start his sprint, Campenaerts came from behind. The Belgian had much more speed than his opponents and crossed the line first. Vercher was second, Kwiatkowski third.
Would this be the winning move? Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) and Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies)
The second group arrived 22 seconds behind. The sprint was won there by Skujiņš, ahead of Lazkano and Lemmen in sixth. Van Aert ended in ninth place 15 seconds later. The peloton rolled in eventually.
The three had 40 seconds on the chasers with 10K to go
Stage winner,Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny): “Winning a stage in the Tour de France is everybody’s dream. I’m not a neopro and I’ve been dreaming of this for a very long time. The period after the Classics was very difficult for me. I had a verbal agreement with the team about extending my contract, but I got ignored for a long time. I was at a long altitude training camp. My girlfriend was there and she supported me every day, while pregnant, as I was struggling to even fulfil my training program. I doubted I had a future in cycling as I was about to become a father. Coming into the Tour de France we had a super motivated team, with a super good atmosphere in the team. This is just the sum of the atmosphere in the team and we’re gonna celebrate tonight. The support I’ve had from my girlfriend is incredible, she is always there for me. She is my girlfriend, not my wife. Not yet! We have been nine weeks in altitude together, at Sierra Nevada (Spain). She gave birth to our son in Granada, indeed, at the bottom of the climb. She is the hero of this story. I’m so grateful to her and to the team, which showed a lot of faith in me and allowed me to stay for nine weeks in altitude without doing any race on the build-up. I’ll be leaving the team this winter, but I’m happy I can finish my spell in the team with the highlight of my career. I think I played it very smart and also the team gave me a lot of confidence. Everybody knew that I had very good legs and that this was a stage that I aimed for in December already. I knew this was the only stage that looked like I could win. In the breakaway, I only had one bullet and maybe played it a bit dirty, showing everybody that I was hurting a lot in order not to take many pulls. The final attack was great, and the trio at the front cooperated super well today. I’m lost for words. I’m looking forward to see my girlfriend and my son.”
Cunning by Victor Campenaerts
Overall leader and KOM, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “It feels good to have an easier day like this one. Actually, the course never allowed us to get too relaxed, as it was up and down the whole time and that made it hard. In any case, we were under control. I’m really enjoying my time at this Tour de France. The atmosphere within the team is great, and I love seeing so many Slovenian fans on the roadside. I don’t know if somebody has said what the queen stage of this Tour de France is, but it might well be tomorrow’s. La Bonette is a big, nice climb. As for Isola 2000, I’ve trained there ahead of the Tour and I know it well. Do I play with home advantage this weekend? Not really. My only advantage is those 3’11” I have on Jonas. As for my strategy, I will start on the defensive to later see if I can go on the offensive, as it can be a good stage for Jonas himself.”
Campenaerts on the phone to his girlfriend and new baby at the finish
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Tour de France Stage 18 Result:
1. Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Dstny in 4:10:20
2. Mattéo Vercher (Fra) TotalEnergies
3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) INEOS Grenadiers
4. Toms Skujins (Lat) Lidl-Trek at 22
5. Oier Lazkano (Spa) Movistar
6. Bart Lemmen Visma | Lease a Bike)
7. Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel-Premier Tech
8. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
9. Wout Van Aert (Bel) Visma | Lease a Bike) at 37
10. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AlUla.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 18:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 74:45:27
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma | Lease a Bike at 3:11
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 5:09
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 12:57
5. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 13:24
6. Carlos Rodriguez Cano /Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 13:30
7. Adam Yates (GB) UAE Team Emirates at 15:41
8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 17:51
9. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 18:15
10. Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain Victorious at 18:35.
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