Stage 18

The road

At the start

Back to the Col de la Loze

Two years ago Tadej Pogačar said he was gone, he was dead, on this climb, and lost that Tour on it. He returns 4:15 up on Jonas Vingegaard, with 5,600 metres of climbing between Vif and the roof of the race: the Glandon, the Madeleine, then 26.5 kilometres to the Col de la Loze. If Visma have one card left, today is the day to play it.

How it was won

1. 1132 km to go

   Queen stage of the Alps

   Three HC climbs and 5,000m of climbing await; a strong break forms, Ben O'Connor among it, hunting redemption after a rough opening fortnight.

2. 226 km to go

   O'Connor gambles

   In the valley before the Col de la Loze, O'Connor attacks the break and goes solo, gambling everything to stay clear of the GC men.

3. 312 km to go

   Stalemate on the Loze

   On the 26.5km climb to the roof of the Tour, Pogačar and Vingegaard shadow each other through the mist, neither able to land a blow.

4. 42 km to go

   Vingegaard surges

   Vingegaard surges with 2km to go on the highest finish of the race.

5. 51 km to go

   Pogačar counters

   Pogačar counters inside the final 500m, dropping Vingegaard to snatch second on the stage and the time bonus atop the Loze.

6. 6At the line

   O'Connor wins the queen stage

   O'Connor holds on to win alone on the Col de la Loze; Pogačar stretches his lead to 4:26.

The result