Ben O'Connor wins an 18th stage of the Tour de France without the expected battle between the favorites

There was a lot expected from the first alpine stage of the Tour de France, especially when a move by Primoz Roglic on the first climb of the day threatened to blow up the race. In the end, the lack of strength inherent in the tough Tour that has been taking place prevailed, and there were hardly any timid movements from Jonas Vingegaard, who showed that wanting is not always being able to.

The last week takes its toll and leaves us with a queen stage without movements among the favorites

Everything remains the same in the fight for the leadership of the general classification after Jonas Vingegaard did not have the strength to carry out the planned offensive, even going as far as to say that he didn't mind losing the second step of the podium. However, actions could not support the words, and, as in almost every stage of this Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar comes out of the Col de la Loze a little more as the leader with one less day until Paris.

Stage 18, the queen stage of this Tour de France if we consider the more than 5,000 meters of accumulated elevation gain and the tremendous route with the mythical Glandon and Madeleine and finishing at the Col de la Loze, a summit of infamous memory for Tadej Pogacar after that 2023 Tour and that communication with his car after giving Vingegaard's wheel: "I'm dead, I'm gone".

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However, on this occasion, instead of ascending through the valley that leads to the Meribel station, the Tour de France has chosen to ascend directly towards Courchevel, leaving a much more alpine ascent, that is, a very long climb, over 26 kilometers and sustained slopes with percentages around 8-9%, a terrain of attrition and where surprises can be seen.

With this panorama, the stage began in which the organization had placed the Intermediate Sprint very close to the start, just before the start of the Glando. This meant that Lidl-Trek took control of the start, not allowing any movement until Jonathan Milan easily won it, taking a giant step towards obtaining the desired green jersey.

After this, the attacks began to search for the breakaway, with a UAE Team Emirates-XRG being the first to try to move its pieces by placing Tim Wellens at the front. However, the surprise came a few kilometers after the start of the climb when Matteo Jorgenson moved with the same objective and, quite surprisingly, Primoz Roglic accelerated.

Obviously, this set off alarms in the UAE Team Emirates-XRG, which maintained an intense duel for a few kilometers to prevent the gap from widening, although the difference eventually ended up around 3 minutes. This first climb was crowned by Lenny Martinez, who, despite the hardships and some small help from his car, gained valuable points to try to defend the mountain jersey against a Tadej Pogacar who was sure to score many points between today and tomorrow.

In the descent, the news of Enric Mas' abandonment occurred, who tried to join the breakaway at the beginning of the climb but exploded when he was in a group trying to catch up with the selection caused by Jorgenson and Roglic.

A paradigm shift occurred at the beginning of the Col de la Madeleine, where Visma-Lease a Bike took control of the race and sought to increase the pace. This quickly reflected in the dwindling gap of the escapees, and also in the number of favorites in the group, which decreased until it was reduced to the bare minimum.

With less than 5 kilometers to go to the summit, Jonas Vingegaard launched an attack that did not seem to aim to drop Pogacar but rather to turn the outcome into a mano a mano. Lipowitz, despite trying to respond to the attack, could not hold onto the wheel of these two giants, and began to lose time, putting his podium position at risk, especially because, after Pogacar and Vingegaard caught up with the breakaway group, all of them, including Primoz Roglic, managed to stick to their wheel and that of Matteo Jorgenson, who took on the work for his leader.

On the valley section, on the way to the start of the ascent to Courchevel, looks, pauses, and taking advantage of the situation, Ben O'Connor launched an attack that may have seemed crazy at that moment, with over 30 kilometers ahead. Einer Rubio and Matteo Jorgenson joined him, the latter in a clear tactical move to continue from the front the presumed offensive of Jonas Vingegaard.

With these riders one minute ahead, Florian Lipowitz employed the same tactic, managing to join at the end of the descent, in his case trying to make enough ground to have a cushion that would allow him to secure his third step on the podium.

However, the pause in the rear allowed reinforcements to arrive, both from Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG to help their leaders. The climb passed at a steady pace, burning kilometers and waiting for the arrival of the toughest sections of the ascent in the final part after passing through the town of Courchevel.

Meanwhile, O'Connor's lead, with legs reminiscent of those that allowed him to dream of the red jersey in La Vuelta last September, continued to increase. Proof of his good pace is that first Jorgenson and then Einer Rubio would end up conceding without being able to resist the Australian's pace.

Meanwhile, behind, despite Visma-Lease a Bike setting the pace, Vingegaard's attack never came, especially after Matteo Jorgenson hit the wall. An attack that never materialized, and even Pogacar's teammates took over the pace, a relentless pace that prevented any movements from happening.

In the final part, a timid attack by Vingegaard only served to drop Roglic and Lipowitz, while Oscar Onley, drawing strength from who knows where, managed to hold on and compete for a podium position in the Tour de France 2025. However, it was more of a showy offensive than anything else, and already, 400 meters from the finish, on the tough ramp leading to the finish line, Tadej Pogacar launched his own attack, dropping the Dane and even overtaking Einer Rubio to finish second at the finish line, adding 10 more seconds in the classification plus the bonus.

Meanwhile, Ben O'Connor achieved a very meritorious victory that compensates for a season that has not gone nearly as well as the fantastic one last year and justifies his signing by Jayco-AlUla.

The fight for the third position in the general classification tightens with the time gap that Onley has closed with Florian Lipowitz, with less than 30 seconds between them, which will surely lead to an intense battle in tomorrow's stage for this honor.

Stage 18 Classification

1. Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) 5h03'47''
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1'45''
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'54''
4. Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) +1'58''
5. Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) +2'00''
6. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +2'25''
7. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2'46''
8. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +3'03''
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +3'09''
10. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) +3'26''

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 66h55'42''
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4'26''
3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +11'01''
4. Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) +11'23''
5. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +12'49''
6. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +15'36''
7. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +16'15''
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +18'31''
9. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +25'41''
10. Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) +29'19''