2019 Tour de France Stage 18 Results & Recap
Stage 18 of the 2019 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
Quintana wins queen stage of the Tour\nBy Clara Beard
Colombia’s Nairo Quintana claimed his third stage win at the Tour de France after he rode away solo from the breakaway 7.5km before the base of the col du Galibier. The Movistar legend slipped away in the original move as the highest placed rider and played his cards right to silence critics who suggest he’s past his prime.
"The intention this morning was to go to the front to be up there in support to Mikel [Landa],” Quintana said after the stage. “I managed to squeeze into the breakaway group. I followed the rhythm which was pretty high on the col d’Izoard. Remaining at the front enabled me to ride for the stage win. But it’s been complicated. I told Andrey Amador to close on all the gaps. Towards the finale, people started struggling and I felt I was in good shape. I waited for the right moment to make my move. It took me some time to recover after my crash before the Pyrenees. Now in the Alps, I find climbs that I prefer due to the altitude."\nJulian Alaphilippe overcame a massive challenge from Egan Bernal and Team Ineos to defend his yellow jersey for another day, albeit losing some time on the young Colombian, who moved up to second place overall. Alaphilippe starts tomorrow a minute and 30 seconds ahead of Bernal.
“It’s a very nice day for Colombia,” Bernal said. “I’m very happy for Nairo Quintana, he deserves it. He’s a rider who has given a lot to our country and today he showed that he’s one of best riders in the world. Geraint Thomas told me to attack to animate the race in the last climb. We have two very hard days ahead of us. We have to remain calm and not lose our focus because of today’s joy. Let’s keep our feet on the ground.”\nThe start of the queen stage saw 34 riders take off in the breakaway 44 kilometres into the stage.
Riders in the break were: Dylan Van Baarle (Ineos), Max Richeze (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Romain Bardet, Mikaël Chérel and Matthias Frank (AG2R-La Mondiale), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida), Matthieu Ladagnous (Groupama-FDJ), Nairo Quintana, Andrey Amador and Carlos Verona (Movistar), Gorka Izagirre and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Amund Groendahl Jansen and Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), Alberto Bettiol and Michael Woods (EF Education First), Adam Yates, Daryl Impey and Chris Juul Jensen (Mitchelton-Scott), Greg Van Avermaet, Simon Geschke and Serge Pauwels (CCC), Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Nikias Arndt and Lennard Kämna (Sunweb), Pierre-Luc Périchon and Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis), Tiesj Benoot, Jasper De Buyst and Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Paul Ourselin (Total Direct Energie), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) and Amaël Moinard (Arkéa-Samsic).
Eventually, the gap grew to 7’40” by the time the breakaway reached the Izoard, where Bernard attacked and was just pipped at the line by a gaining Caruso and Bardet.
"I didn’t get what I wanted in the Pyrenees,” Bardet said. “There’s still some way away but today it was my goal to make the breakaway. Tim Wellens is someone I appreciate. I spoke with him before the climbs and we made clear that it would a loyal fight between us. To defend the polka dot jersey is the only goal I have for the remaining of this Tour."
On the descent off the Izoard, Bardet, Caruso, Quintana, Lutsenko, Woods, A. Yates, Pauwels, Kämna and Bernard formed the front group and were soon joined by Wellens and a few others.
Quintana took his opportunity to attack, leaving just Lutsenko and Bardet to chase, as the rest of the breakaway lost interest. Back in the GC group, Bernal went away solo before they reached the crest of the final climb to gain some time on the overall competition.
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