Carapaz claims victory on Tour de France stage 18 as Pogacar retains yellow jersey
Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz won the 185.2km mountain stage from Voiron to Ocieres Merlette, finishing 45 seconds ahead of his nearest rivals, while overall leader Tadej Pogacar kept the yellow jersey despite illness affecting his team.
Ecuador's Richard Carapaz secured the win on stage 18 of the Tour de France, finishing 45 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Mauro Schmid (Jayco-Alula) and American Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike). The stage, a 185.2km mountain route from Voiron to Ocieres Merlette, was the first of three Alpine stages and featured several breakaways on a hot day.
Carapaz broke away from the peloton with a decisive acceleration, distancing himself from rivals including Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick Step), who was wearing the King of the Mountains jersey on behalf of race leader Tadej Pogacar. After Paret-Peintre slowed, Carapaz launched a second attack to secure his lead.
In the general classification, 27-year-old Pogacar retained the yellow jersey, holding a four-minute-32-second advantage over Belgium's Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and a six-minute-51-second lead over teammate Isaac Del Toro of Mexico. Pogacar also kept the King of the Mountains jersey by a single point, while Del Toro remains in the white jersey for the best young rider.
Denmark's Mads Pedersen extended his lead in the points classification to 32 points, though he remains under pressure from Belgium's Jasper Philipsen. The race was also marked by illness within Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, with domestique Brandon McNulty withdrawing during the stage.