2020 Tour de France – Stage 18 – Highlights, Report, Results
Profile
Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mHqkjw3OjM&ab_channel=TourdeFrance
Report
Michal Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz completed a resounding 1-2 finish for the INEOS Grenadiers on stage 18 at the Tour de France. The pair rode into the finish together in La Roche-sur-Foron after distancing their rivals on a big day in the mountains. Kwiatkowski crossed the line arm in arm with Carapaz, who battled hard over the five categorised climbs to move into the lead of the polka dot jersey.
Throwing everything at the breakaway, the team placed no fewer than four riders in the opening move, with Jonathan Castroviejo and Dylan van Baarle ensuring numbers at the head of the race.
As the climbs wore on, Carapaz and Kwiatkowski were able to work together, eventually dropping Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-McLaren) on the Col des Gileres. They held on to finish 1:51 ahead of the chasing GC group, featuring race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
For Kwiatkowski the win marked his first Grand Tour stage victory, while Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian rider to pull on the polka dot jersey – leading the classification by a slender two points with three stages to go.
Reaction
“That was some day. I can’t describe how grateful I am to the whole team and also to Richard. That was an incredible day for us and I will never forget that. I’ve had some nice moments in cycling but that was something else – a new experience – I’ve had goosebumps for the last I don’t know how many kilometres. The gap was so big that we were going to make it. Both of us we really enjoyed the last kilometres. It’s incredible. “Egan (Bernal) was sad when he was leaving the race but he was wishing us good luck. Hopefully he enjoyed that on the television because that was some race. Collectively we tried in the last three days everything we could to be in the breakaway and win the stage and finally today – most of us we found the best legs ever I have to say. The way we rode with Richard was just incredible. “We’re going to celebrate big time tonight. We all deserve it after so many stages. We put on some show today and for sure we have to celebrate that.” – Michal Kwiatkowski
Results
Stage
| 1 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers | 04:47:33 |
| 2 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | |
| 3 | Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:01:51 |
| 4 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:01:53 |
| 5 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 00:01:53 |
| 6 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | 00:01:54 |
| 7 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:01:54 |
| 8 | Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren | 00:01:54 |
| 9 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain McLaren | 00:01:54 |
| 10 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:01:54 |
General Classification
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma | 79:45:30 |
| 2 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 00:00:57 |
| 3 | Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team | 00:01:27 |
| 4 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | 00:03:06 |
| 5 | Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren | 00:03:28 |
| 6 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:04:19 |
| 7 | Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:05:55 |
| 8 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling | 00:06:05 |
| 9 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:07:24 |
| 10 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:12:12 |
Points
| 1 | Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep | 298 |
| 2 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 246 |
| 3 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team | 235 |
| 4 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | 171 |
| 5 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal | 158 |
Mountains
| 1 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 74 |
| 2 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 72 |
| 3 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma | 67 |
| 4 | Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb | 62 |
| 5 | Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team | 51 |
Young Riders
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 79:46:27 |
| 2 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:03:22 |
| 3 | Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 01:35:35 |
| 4 | Daniel Felipe Martinez Poveda (Col) EF Pro Cycling | 01:51:32 |
| 5 | Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 02:10:21 |