Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Michal Kwiatkowski fought back once again after losing contact with the front group of a Tour de France Mountain Stage. Kwiatkowski regained contact after the first ascent of HC Alpe d'Huez in the 172.5km Stage 18 on Thursday, thanks to some important help from a teammate.
Kwiatkowski lost contact again on the second and final climb of Alpe d'Huez (13.8km, 8.1%) to the finish line, and finished 31st. Sylvain Chavanel was in the original breakaway, and finished behind Kwiatkowski in 36th. Peter Velits, the rider who helped Michal get back on after losing contact, was 47th.
Christophe Riblon (AG2R - La Mondiale) won the stage solo after catching and dropping Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) with 2km to go. Riblon and van Garderen both suffered bad luck on the highly technical Col de Sarenne descent earlier in the stage — Riblon overcooking a corner and riding into a grassy ditch, and van Garderen with a mechanical that forced him to stop. However, both riders were able to get back on the road with a big gap on the peloton, and they each had their own solo efforts in front. Moreno Moser (Cannondale ProCycling) was also with them, but finished 3rd after losing contact earlier.
Yellow jersey wearer Chris Froome (Sky ProCycling) was highly aggressive on Alpe d'Huez in the final, but ran out of energy with just a few kilometers to go. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) rode away from Froome and finished 4th and 5th, respectively.
All OPQS riders finished within the time cut. OPQS looks next to a 204.5km Stage 19 on Friday.
"I think every single stage it gets harder and harder," Kwiatkowski said. "This Tour de France for sure, day by day, I can say the next stage will be the hardest of my life. Tomorrow will probably be harder than today. I suffered so much on the first climb of Alpe d'Huez, but I had perfect help from Peter Velits. So, I'm really thankful for him because I could go down from Col de Sarenne with the first group. I then took my own pace on the last climb of Alpe d'Huez. I gained a lot experience at this Tour and that is my main goal."