Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey.
With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion.
Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour.
Photo: EPA
Two years ago, Vingegaard dropped Pogacar on that mountain on his way to his second Tour title, but could not deal a decisive blow this time.
Riding behind O’Connor, Vingegaard and Pogacar closely watched each other in the final climb, surrounded by buoyant fans braving the cold and the fog.
Vingegaard attacked his Slovenian rival, but Pogacar responded with ease. Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates had also tried to hurt the defending champion earlier in the day in the Col de La Madeleine, but their efforts left Pogacar unfazed.
Photo: EPA
The reigning world champion, who rides for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, never panicked and accelerated near the end to drop Vingegaard in the last 500m and increase his overall lead.
Pogacar crossed the finish line 1 minute, 45 seconds behind O’Connor. Vingegaard completed the stage podium, 1 minute, 54 seconds off the pace.
“I was a bit scared of this stage, but it turned out to be a beautiful day,” Pogacar said. “This side of the Col de La Loze is easier than the one we did in 2023 — that was much worse. Whenever we climb that side again, I’ll definitely go for the win.”
Ahead of yesterday’s final mountain stage to La Plagne, Vingegaard lagged 4 minutes, 26 seconds behind Pogacar in the overall standings, with Florian Lipowitz in third place, 11 minutes, 1 second back.
It was O’Connor’s second stage win at the Tour, four years after his victory in Tignes. The team Jayco AlUla leader dropped his last breakaway companion, Einer Rubio, with 16km to go and then held off the return of the main contenders.
“It’s special to do it again here in the Tour de France,” O’Connor said. “The last time in Tignes was a complete shock, but this time I got to enjoy much more. I had a super day today, I was finally back to being me after struggling for the past 17 days. My knee is absolutely screwed now, it’s really painful. It’s lingering there and it’s not going to stop until the end of the race.”
Meanwhile, Stage 19 had been shortened due to the discovery of a contagious disease in a herd of cattle along the original route between Albertville and La Plagne, race organizers said.
“The discovery of an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis affecting cattle in a herd located specifically in the Col des Saisies has necessitated the culling of the animals,” organizers in a statement. “In light of the distress experienced by the affected farmers and in order to preserve the smooth running of the race, it has been decided, in agreement with the relevant authorities, to modify the route of Stage 19 (Albertville-La Plagne) and to avoid the ascent to the Col des Saisies.”
Additional reporting by AFP
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