Carapaz wins Tour de France stage 18 with late attack, Pogacar keeps yellow
Ecuador's Richard Carapaz attacked 3.5 km from the summit of Orcières-Merlette to win stage 18 solo, while Tadej Pogacar finished safely in the peloton and retained his 4:32 overall lead.
Carapaz's emotional solo win
Richard Carapaz timed his attack perfectly on the final climb to Orcières-Merlette, surging clear of a six-man breakaway with 3.5 kilometres remaining. The EF Education-EasyPost rider quickly built a lead of 37 seconds entering the final kilometre and crossed the line 45 seconds ahead of Swiss rider Mauro Schmid and American Matteo Jorgenson. It was Carapaz's second career Tour stage victory, following a breakaway win on stage 17 in 2024, and his ninth Grand Tour stage success overall. The 33-year-old dedicated the win to his mother, who died at the start of the year, and said he had wanted to honour her memory during this race.
It's been a special day. For me to come back here on the Tour has been something that cost us a lot. This is a very beautiful stage that I dedicate to my family.
The stage returned the Tour to a climb steeped in cycling history: Orcières-Merlette was the scene of Luis Ocaña's legendary 1971 solo victory over Eddy Merckx. Carapaz's ride, while not rewriting the general classification, added another memorable chapter to the ascent.
- Riders depart Voiron for the 185.2 km stage.
- Early breakaway groups form on the first-category ascent.
- Mads Pedersen wins the sprint unchallenged, extending his points lead to 32 points.
- The six-man leading group starts the 7.1 km ascent to Orcières-Merlette (6.7% average gradient).
- Richard Carapaz launches a decisive attack and drops his breakaway companions.
- Carapaz crosses the line solo, 45 seconds ahead of Mauro Schmid and Matteo Jorgenson.
- The yellow jersey group arrives 4 minutes 35 seconds later, with no time gaps among the favourites.
General classification unchanged
Tadej Pogacar and the other overall contenders showed no interest in chasing the breakaway, rolling across the line 4 minutes 35 seconds after Carapaz in a group that contained all the top ten riders. The Slovenian retained his lead of 4 minutes 32 seconds over Remco Evenepoel, with his UAE Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro third at 6:51. Frenchman Paul Seixas sits fourth at 7:11 and Spain's Juan Ayuso fifth at 9:22.
- Tadej Pogacar
- 0 seconds
- Remco Evenepoel
- 272 seconds
- Isaac Del Toro
- 411 seconds
- Paul Seixas
- 431 seconds
- Juan Ayuso
- 562 seconds
Pogacar's team, however, is battling illness. American Brandon McNulty abandoned mid-stage with a sore throat, while Adam Yates again struggled with the virus that had affected him on Wednesday and Tim Wellens also faded early. The depleted squad left Pogacar with only Del Toro for company in the final group of 20 riders, yet no rival attempted to test the yellow jersey.
Other classifications
Mads Pedersen strengthened his grip on the green jersey. The Danish points leader joined an early breakaway and won the intermediate sprint unchallenged, extending his advantage over Jasper Philipsen to 32 points. In the mountains classification, Pogacar leads Valentin Paret-Peintre by a single point, with Carapaz a further seven points back after his stage win. The polka-dot jersey battle remains tight heading into the final Alpine stages.
Two days on Alpe d'Huez
Friday's stage 19 covers 127.9 kilometres from Gap to Alpe d'Huez, finishing with the iconic 21-hairpin climb (13.8 km at 8.1%). Saturday's penultimate stage is even more brutal: three hors-catégorie ascents (Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Galibier and Col de Sarenne) plus the first-category Col du Télégraphe, before another summit finish at Alpe d'Huez. The race concludes Sunday on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
