On the steepest and most demanding stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France, Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) emerged victorious. The Australian was the fastest rider on the eighteenth stage, after covering 171.5 kilometers between Vif and Courchevel (Col de la Loze).
The Oceanian rider was followed by leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG), who entered the stage in second place at 1:45, followed by Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) in third place at 1:54, and fourth was Briton Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) at 1:58.
The top five was completed by Boyacá-born climber Einer Rubio (Movistar Best PC), who put in a strong performance after escaping for several kilometers and holding on alone until the final climb.
As for the other Beetle riders, Sergio Higuita (XDS Astana Team) finished 14th, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain – Victorious) 18th, while Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) finished 49th, losing more than 35 minutes to the winner.
Regarding the overall standings, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) retained the yellow jersey for another day, ahead of Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Germany’s Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe), who narrowly missed out on third place.
In the so-called queen stage of the French Tour, the peloton faced a complicated day with three demanding first-category climbs: the Col du Glandon (21.7 km at 5.1%), the Col de la Madeleine (19.3 km at 7.8%), and the Col de la Loze (26.5 km at 6.4%).
In the day’s breakaway, Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) was one of the key figures. The Colombian was one of the strongest riders on the mountainous stage, along with Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco AlUla), who was the only attacker to hold out at the front of the field.
In the final stretch, O’Connor held the lead on the demanding climb to take a great victory, his second in the Tour de France. In the final moments, Einer Rubio was overtaken by the “Gallas de la General.”
The French tour continues this Friday with stage 19, another super-mountainous 129.9-kilometer stage between Albertville and La Plagne, including five categorized climbs with a 19.3-kilometer climb at 7.2% grade.
Tour de France (2.UWT)
Results Stage 18 | Vif – Courchevel (Col de la Loze) (171,5 km)
| 1 | Ben O’Connor | Team Jayco-AlUla | 5:03:47 |
| 2 | Tadej Pogacar | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 1:45 |
| 3 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 1:54 |
| 4 | Oscar Onley | Team Picnic PostNL | 1:58 |
| 5 | Einer Rubio | Movistar Team | 2:00 |
| 6 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 2:25 |
| 7 | Primoz Roglic | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 2:46 |
| 8 | Adam Yates | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 3:03 |
| 9 | Tobias Halland Johannessen | Uno-X Mobility | 3:09 |
| 10 | Sepp Kuss | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 3:26 |
Ranking General Individual
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 66:55:42 |
| 2 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 4:26 |
| 3 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 11:01 |
| 4 | Oscar Onley | Team Picnic PostNL | 11:23 |
| 5 | Primoz Roglic | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 12:49 |
| 6 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 15:36 |
| 7 | Kévin Vauquelin | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | 16:15 |
| 8 | Tobias Halland Johannessen | Uno-X Mobility | 18:31 |
| 9 | Ben Healy | EF Education-EasyPost | 25:41 |
| 10 | Ben O’Connor | Team Jayco-AlUla | 29:19 |
Source: FEPACI