Le Tour peloton prepares for the high mountains
![Le Tour peloton prepares for the high mountains](/images/news_article/c_c/800x400/soudal-quick-step-le-tour-stage-18_1721323920.jpg)
Barcelonnette, a small town lying in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, returned at the Tour de France after almost half a century, this time as a finish for stage 18, which started from Gap and took in five classified climbs. It was another route perfect for a breakaway, and when a massive 36-man group took off it soon became clear they would fight for the win.
The action at the front began with 40 kilometers to go, as several riders tried to go clear on the up-and-down roads that were perfect for these kinds of moves. With the peloton more than 12 minutes behind, the escapees had plenty of time for a cat-and-mouse game that eventually led to three riders going clear, and from that small group, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) took the victory.
Remco Evenepoel and Mikel Landa – together with their Soudal Quick-Step teammates – arrived home together with the bunch, and the Belgian took again to the podium to receive his 17th white jersey. Remco will sport it on Friday’s leg-sapping stage to Isola 2000, which will include a trip up the Cime de la Bonette, the third-highest paved road in Europe, at 2802 meters.
“The start was a bit intense, but overall, it was a pretty easy stage. We still had to remain focused because there were some tricky descents and the rough roads. We stayed out of trouble and can be content with our day. Now we’ll see what we can do on Friday, where the gradients won’t be as difficult as in the Pyrenees, but the altitude could lead to somefireworks”, said Evenepoel after the stage.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Victor Campenaerts Lotto Dstny |
4:10:20 |
2 |
Mattéo Vercher TotalEnergies |
0:00 |
3 |
Michał Kwiatkowski INEOS Grenadiers |
0:00 |
4 |
Toms Skujiņš Lidl - Trek |
0:22 |
5 |
Oier Lazkano López Movistar Team |
0:22 |
6 |
Bart Lemmen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
0:22 |
7 |
Krists Neilands Israel - Premier Tech |
0:22 |
8 |
Jai Hindley Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
0:22 |
9 |
Wout van Aert Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
0:37 |
10 |
Michael Matthews Team Jayco AlUla |
0:37 |
45 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
13:40 |
48 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
13:40 |
50 |
Gianni Moscon
Soudal Quick-Step |
13:40 |
52 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
13:40 |
64 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step |
13:40 |
70 |
Yves Lampaert
Soudal Quick-Step |
13:40 |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
74:45:27 |
2 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
3:11 |
3 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
5:09 |
4 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
12:57 |
5 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
13:24 |
6 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
13:30 |
7 |
Adam Yates UAE Team Emirates |
15:41 |
8 |
Giulio Ciccone Lidl - Trek |
17:51 |
9 |
Derek Gee Israel - Premier Tech |
18:15 |
10 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
18:35 |
27 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:16:44 |
82 |
Gianni Moscon
Soudal Quick-Step |
3:04:03 |
84 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step |
3:04:32 |
124 |
Yves Lampaert
Soudal Quick-Step |
4:00:10 |
1 |
Biniam Girmay Hailu Intermarché - Wanty |
387 pt |
2 |
Jasper Philipsen Alpecin - Deceuninck |
354 pt |
3 |
Bryan Coquard Cofidis |
188 pt |
4 |
Anthony Turgis TotalEnergies |
163 pt |
5 |
Arnaud De Lie Lotto Dstny |
161 pt |
6 |
Wout van Aert Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
152 pt |
7 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
136 pt |
8 |
Jonas Abrahamsen Uno-X Mobility |
136 pt |
9 |
Pascal Ackermann Israel - Premier Tech |
118 pt |
10 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
112 pt |
37 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
38 pt |
100 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
7 pt |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
77 pt |
2 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
58 pt |
3 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
42 pt |
4 |
Oier Lazkano López Movistar Team |
41 pt |
5 |
Richard Carapaz Montenegro EF Education - EasyPost |
37 pt |
6 |
Jonas Abrahamsen Uno-X Mobility |
36 pt |
7 |
David Gaudu Groupama - FDJ |
30 pt |
8 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
24 pt |
9 |
Ben Healy EF Education - EasyPost |
21 pt |
10 |
Tobias Halland Johannessen Uno-X Mobility |
19 pt |
16 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
14 pt |
1 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
74:50:36 |
2 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
8:21 |
3 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
13:26 |
4 |
Matteo Jorgenson Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
17:09 |
5 |
Ben Healy EF Education - EasyPost |
37:13 |
6 |
Javier Romo Movistar Team |
51:14 |
7 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:11:35 |
8 |
Jordan Jegat TotalEnergies |
1:25:27 |
9 |
Tobias Halland Johannessen Uno-X Mobility |
1:26:02 |
10 |
Oscar Onley Team dsm-firmenich PostNL |
1:47:53 |
1 | UAE Team Emirates | 224:41:24 |
2 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 27:57 |
3 | INEOS Grenadiers | 52:14 |
4 | Soudal Quick-Step | 59:21 |
5 | Lidl - Trek | 1:29:03 |
6 | Movistar Team | 1:39:10 |
7 | EF Education - EasyPost | 2:08:08 |
8 | Bahrain - Victorious | 2:11:47 |
9 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 2:17:45 |
10 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 2:34:20 |