Victor Campenaerts won the 18th stage. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

A breakaway day before the showdown

As expected, the 18th stage of the Tour de France brought the big day for the breakaway riders. Belgian Victor Campenaerts triumphed in a three-man sprint on Thursday after 179,5 km from Gap to Barcelonnette.

July 18, 2024

From: apa

Campenaerts secured the fourth Belgian stage victory in the current Tour. The 32-year-old Lotto professional, once holder of the hourly world record, surprised his escape companions Matteo Vercher from France and former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski from Poland on the home straight.

On Friday, 144,6 kilometers from Embrun to the Isola 2000 ski area are on the program. Before the 16-kilometer final climb, two mountains of the highest category, the Col de Vars and the Cime de la Bonette, have to be conquered. The latter, at 2.802 meters above sea level, will be the highest point ever crossed in the history of the Tour de France. On Saturday, there will be another mountain stage with slightly shorter climbs, before the final time trial in Nice on Sunday.

Tadej Pogacar with his helper Joao Almeida. © ANSA / GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

The Slovenian Pogacar continues to be the clear favorite and is 3:11 minutes ahead of his toughest rival, last year's Danish winner Jonas Vingegaard, going into the final. Both are fighting for their third Tour victory. In third place, only the Belgian time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel is within striking distance, 5:09 minutes behind. Gall is 19:04 behind the leader, but is only half a minute behind the tenth-placed Colombian Santiago Buitrago.