The 18th stage was also the hour of the breakaway: 40 kilometres before the finish, three riders broke away from a leading group of around 30 riders. The leading trio then defended their position and decided the victory among themselves. Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) and Matteo Vercher (Total Energie) worked well together and kept their pursuers at bay. In the final sprint, the Belgian Campenaerts had the best start. He finished well ahead of Vercher and Kwiatkowski, who ended up third.
Runaways dominate the 18th stage
The 18th Tour de France stage was hectic right from the start. Many riders wanted to get into the leading group of the day. The pace was therefore extremely high, with attack after attack. Once a breakaway group of over 30 riders had formed, it was let go by the peloton - none of the riders played a role in the overall classification. The group around Vingegaard, Pogacar and Co. crossed the finish line almost 14 minutes after the day's winner.
In the large breakaway group, there were numerous speed increases, especially on the last two categorised climbs, so that riders were able to break away again and again, only to be caught a little later. Only a few kilometres before the finish did it become clear that the winner would be a rider from the leading trio. All eyes were on the breakaway riders, of which Victor Campenaerts knew how to capitalise on the opportunity. However, there were no changes in the overall classification.
I've been dreaming of winning a stage of the Tour de France for so long. It's probably the highlight of my career. This victory is also the culmination of a great atmosphere in our team. We're going to celebrate tonight! - Victor Campenaerts in the winner interview
Tour de France 2024: Results - the top 10 of the 18th stage
- Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) 4:10:20
- Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) +0:00
- Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:00
- Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek) +0:22
- Oier Lazkano (Movistar) +0:22
- Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:22
- Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) +0:22
- Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:22
- Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:37
- Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:37
The current overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 74:45:27
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) +3:11
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +5:09
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +12:57
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +13:24
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +13:30
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +15:41
- Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +17:51
- Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +18:15
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) +18:35
How the 18th stage of the Tour de France 2024 went
The pace was high right from the start on the 180-kilometre stage from Gap to Barcelonnette. Many riders tried to get into the breakaway group right from the start. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) were among those who repeatedly attacked. However, they were unable to break away for the time being.
Stuyven's solo attempt
The speeds were so high that the peloton threatened to break up again and again. However, the peloton stayed together for a long time. It was only after around 15 kilometres that the classics specialist Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) was able to break away from the peloton and open up a clear gap. He soon had a lead of over 20 seconds on the peloton, but the Belgian was quickly caught again.
Top group of the day forms
Around 150 kilometres before the finish on the first categorised climb of the day, a 36-rider group around Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe) and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarche-Wanty) broke away. The large group was then to form the leading group of the day and finally break away from the peloton.
The first mountain classification was won by Oier Lazkano (Movistar). The Spaniard was also active in the next two mountain classifications, which he won. The only intermediate sprint of the day in Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur was taken by Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-AlUla).
Runaway with a big lead
In the peloton, the breakaways were let go and the race situation remained stable for a long time. UAE Team Emirates was responsible for the pace in the peloton. As none of the breakaway riders were able to influence the top places in the overall classification, the gap was large: 100 kilometres before the finish, the gap was around five minutes, 50 kilometres before the finish even around ten minutes. This made it clear that the day's winner would come from the breakaway group.
On the Cote de Saint-Apollinaire, the breakaway group repeatedly stepped up the pace. First Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost) attacked, then Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) increased the pace. Due to the numerous attacks, some riders from the leading group had to abandon: Frank van den Broek (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Ben Healy, among others, ran into problems and from then on were no longer part of the leading group, which now consisted of around 30 riders. The pace remained high, with attack after attack from riders in the leading group. For the time being, however, no rider was really able to break away.
Kwiatkowski attacks
With 40 kilometres to go, Michal Kwiatkowski attacked once again. The Pole was able to break away from the competition shortly before the mountain classification on the Cote des Demoiselles Coiffees. It then took five kilometres for Victor Campenaerts and Matteo Vercher to catch up with Kwiatkowski. From then on, they rode as the leading trio. Behind them, a chasing quintet formed around Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The quintet rode only a few seconds ahead of the remaining escapees, but lost more and more ground on the leaders: 15 kilometres before the finish, the lead was still 45 seconds.
Campenaerts with tactical cleverness
The leading trio maintained their lead over the final kilometres, making it clear that there would be a sprint between the three riders. Campenaerts barely worked in the wind in the final kilometres and kept a low profile. The Belgian took advantage of this in the sprint, attacked from the slipstream and took the stage win.
