2020 Tour de France Stage 18 Results & Recap
Stage 18 of the 2020 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
Kwiatkowski and Carapaz redeem Ineos’ Tour de France
Michal Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz celebrated and crossed the line together after riding the final part of the 175km stage together.
“I’m just grateful to the whole team and Richard [Carapaz],” Kwiatkowski said. “This is an incredible day for us. I’ll never forget that. I get nice moments in cycling but this one gave me goose bumps in the last kilometres, I don’t know how many but the gap was so big that we knew we were going to make it. [Marc] Hirschi was fighting against Richard for the polka dot jersey. He took a corner way too fast. I was right behind him. I went on my brakes. It was better to ride at 99% and stay safe. Hirschi wasn’t keen to work before, so we wanted to do our own race. We put on some show today and we deserve a big celebration.”
Primoz Roglic was in no danger of the yellow jersey slipping away today, and will start tomorrow’s flat stage 57 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar.
"I don’t think the job is done,” Roglic said. “There are still some hard stages to come and Tadej Pogačar is a great climber. I felt really good on the climb, but you can’t compare these last 4-5k to anything else. I’m glad this stage is behind us. Sepp Kuss and I talked during the climb and we decided he could go and try to win the stage, as he could always drop back and help me. Also, the other tried to chase him back and it helped me realise many guys around me were struggling. Sepp’s attack pointed me when to attack myself. On this climb, every meter counts. Having his help was really good. Again, it has been a very big performance from him and the team. Am I happy with the gap I have over Pogacar? Well, It’s never enough gap. You know, when you have something, you always want more. But I was happy with the position I was in before the stage, and now I’m even happier. My fan club has been here since the Grand Colombier stage. These last days I’ve seen so many Slovenian flags on the roadside, all day long. This always gives you some extra energy, it is such an unique feeling. I hope they are proud of us back in Slovenia."\nAt the start in Méribel, the breakaway broke off before the intermediate sprint in Aime (km14).
Jonathan Castroviejo, Richard Carapaz, Michal Kwiatkowski, Dylan Van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Nans Peters (Ag2r La Mondiale), Sam Bennett, Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Rudy Molard, Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-McLaren), Alberto Bettiol, Tejay van Garderen (EF Education First), Dayer Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Dario Cataldo, Nelson Oliveira, José Joaquín Rojas, Carlos Verona (Movistar Team), Simon Geschke, Matteo Trentin (CCC Team), Nicolas Edet, Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), Luis León Sánchez (Astana Pro Team), Jasper de Buyst, Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Krists Neilands (Israel Start-Up Nation), Michael Gogl, Michael Valgren (NTT Pro Cycling), Nikias Arndt, Marc Hirschi, Soren Kragh Andersen, Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb).
Bennett added more points to his green jersey lead, winning the sprint ahead of Trentin and Sagan.
With the Cormet de Roselend (Cat. 1) ahead,19 riders including Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-McLaren) started in the lead. They stayed together to the KOM, where Hirschi outsprinted Carapaz to take 10 points.
On the next summit, the Les Saisies (km 91), Hirschi outsprinted Carapaz again but crashed just moments later on the descent. The tumble cost the Swiss rider 25 seconds initially, but after a long chase, Hirschi had to call it a day and wait for the yellow jersey group.
Carapaz capitalized on Hirschi’s misfortune by gaining more points in the KOM competition, cresting the Montée du Plateau des Glières in first and moving into the polka dots at the end of the stage. \nMeanwhile, the battle was on in the yellow jersey group when Mikel Landa tried his hand at an attack, but was swallowed back up moments before the summit.
Carapaz and Kwiatkowski rode together for the last 27km after dropping Bilbao. Neither sprinted for the line, instead celebrating the team effort together. \n
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