2015 Tour de France Stage 18 Results & Recap
Stage 18 of the 2015 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Bardet solos to stage win in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Just as in the Critérium du Dauphiné in June, Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) used his descending skills to break away and take a solo victory on stage 18 of the Tour de France.
Yesterday’s stage was a carbon copy of that day in the Dauphiné but Bardet chose to repeat his tactic on the second day in the Alps, which took the riders 186.5km from from Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The Frenchman attacked from the break just shy of the summit of the Hors Category Col du Glandon and carved out an advantage in style on the way down the mountain before holding his lead over the Lacets de Montvernier and the 10 subsequent kilometres to the line.
Compatriot Pierre Rolland (Europcar) set off in pursuit after cresting the picturesque Lacets, or shoelaces, which were making their first appearance in the Tour, but he couldn’t gain any ground. Winner Anacona (Movistar) took third from the fragments of what had once been a 29-rider breakaway.
It is a debut Tour de France stage win for Bardet, for whom the icing on the cake was to move into the top 10 on general classification at the expense of Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin).
“It was a very tricky start today. I think everyone was pretty tired at the start of today, so it was tough for everyone. I’m a good descender so I had just enough energy left at the end to get across the line. I knew the end of this stage really well. We took it on at the end of the Dauphiné as well, so I know this route by heart. The last kilometres, even though I knew them well, were very long,” Bardet said.
“To start, getting in the breakaway was really hard. It was a fast pace but it was tough to get involved in it. I wanted the victory, so I just had to go through that pain. It’s been amazing, phenomenal, the crowds… it was like being in a football stadium, there was that much noise generated. I felt really supported by the crowd today.”
Whereas the pressure was on Chris Froome (Team Sky) right from the start of yesterday’s stage, today he would wait until the Col du Glandon, which crested 40km from the line, to be really tested. The outcome, though, was the same; he would not be shaken and moved one step closer to Paris, and his lead remains at 3:10 over Nairo Quintana (Movistar).
It looked like Team Sky would exert their characteristic control all the way up the Glandon but Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) lit things up with an attack that saw him go clear and link up with a group up the road. Nibali made an attack of his own near the top of the climb and while the yellow jersey group thinned, the yellow jersey himself remained in tact, and they caught Contador on the descent.
Nibali tried again on the Lacets but Quintana, who stands the most realistic chance of overhauling Froome, was fairly inactive given the dwindling kilometres he has to cancel out a hefty deficit.
With the top of the GC unchanged, grueling summit finishes at La Toussuire and Alpe d’Huez on the next two stages are where the difference will have to be made.
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