Stage 18

The road

At the start

Vars, Izoard, Galibier

Matteo Trentin soloed into Gap while the GC men rolled home twenty minutes down; Alaphilippe still leads Thomas by 1:35, Pinot by 1:50, Bernal by 2:02. Luke Rowe and Tony Martin were both disqualified for their scuffle on the road. Today is the stairway — 208 kilometres and 5,215 metres over the Col de Vars, the Izoard and the Galibier at 2,642 metres, then nineteen kilometres down to Valloire.

How it was won

1. 188 km to go

   Over the Col de Vars

   The huge 34-man break crests the 2,109m Col de Vars some 7:30 clear of the yellow-jersey group, Wellens out-sprinting Bardet for the mountains points.

2. 253 km to go

   The Izoard ignites both races

   On the haunting Casse Déserte of the Col d'Izoard the front group fragments as Quintana, Adam Yates and Bardet force the pace, catching lone leader Bernard within sight of the summit.

3. 326 km to go

   Quintana flies up the Galibier

   When Lutsenko kicks, Quintana answers with a stinging acceleration; 7km from the top of the Galibier he opens a decisive gap, for a day looking like the Quintana of old.

4. 419 km to go

   Alaphilippe in trouble

   On the upper slopes of the Galibier, Bernal and Thomas accelerate and, for the first time in this Tour, put the yellow jersey in real difficulty near the 2,642m summit.

5. 58 km to go

   Alaphilippe throws himself downhill

   Unfazed, Alaphilippe hurls himself down the 19km descent into Valloire, catching Pinot, Thomas, Kruijswijk and Landa with 8km to go and even trying to distance them on the last hairpins.

6. 6At the line

   Quintana wins in Valloire

   Quintana solos home 1:43 clear for a morale-restoring win, Bardet inheriting the polka-dot jersey, while Alaphilippe defends his lead on the most demanding day of the Alps.

The result