Richard Carapaz soloes to Stage 18 glory at Orcieres-Merlette as Mads Pedersen edges clear in green jersey battle after GC stalemate

Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz won Stage 18 at Orcieres-Merlette from a select six-man breakaway on a day Valentin Paret-Peintre came close to the polka dot jersey and Mads Pedersen pulled off a green jersey coup.

With Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and his yellow jersey rivals keeping their powder dry before the Alpe d’Huez double header, Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) rode clear of Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) on the fifth and final climb of a tough 185km stage in the Alps to pick up his first win on the Tour de France since 2024 and rise back into the top 10.

After taking maximum King of the Mountain points over the first four climbs of the day, Paret-Peintre came up one point short of taking over the polka dot jersey outright from Pogacar, his fourth place in the stage also dashing the hopes of the host nation still searching for an elusive win.

But there was joy for Denmark’s Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) who put his disappointment from Stage 16 behind him to strengthen his grip on the green jersey.

Part of an early breakaway that formed after the first climb of the day, Pedersen was the cornerstone of a solid 14-man move that stayed out over the next two climbs. The Dane then took maximum points in the intermediate sprint – a whopping 129km from the start – to move 32 points clear of his nearest rival, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

Another engaging and unpredictable stage on the Tour featured the best part of 4,000 metres of climbing and countless riders trying their luck from the gun, with Carapaz’s EF Education-EasyPost team setting out their store early by standing out in their resplendent pink jerseys through a series of attacks from Ben Healy, Alex Baudin and Sean Quinn.

But when seven riders went clear after the first climb, as the road continued to edge uphill following the summit, EF had missed the split – leading to a frantic chase behind.

The move was instigated by Pedersen who spotted an opportunity after Philipsen – whose victory on Wednesday saw the Belgian come to within seven points of the Dane – was dropped on the climb.

Pedersen joined forces with Jorgensen, Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Felix Englehardt (Jayco-AlUla) and Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies), while EF led the chase behind with four riders in a large 28-man move.

A shake-out ensued on the next climb, with Carapaz and Paret-Peintre joining the leaders alongside Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS), Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ), Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar) and the in-form Schmid, fresh from his second place in Wednesday’s sprint.

With the peloton now eight minutes back, Pedersen pushed on to win the intermediate sprint at Corps before the final six came to the fore: polka-dot jersey rivals Paret-Peintre and Carapaz, the American Jorgenson, Spain’s Garcia Pierna and Norway’s Johannessen.

Paret-Peintre continued to take maximum points over all the climbs to come to within five points of Pogacar – knowing that a top three finish in Orcieres-Merlettes would see him take over control of the KOM standings.

But when Carapaz put in a series of attacks with 3.5km remaining of the final climb, Paret-Peintre could only shake his head as the elastic snapped. Jorgenson and Schmid rode on but it was only ever a battle for second place, the Swiss pipping the American to ensure back-to-back bridesmaid finishes one week after his victory in Stage 13.

Fourth for Paret-Peintre saw him fall short by one point, with Carapaz now seven points down in what is shaping to be a thrilling battle for polka dots.

But with Pogacar and his GC rivals returning to the fore for the first of two finishes at Alpe d’Huez on Friday, the momentum in the polka dot and yellow jersey classifications looks to return to the Slovenian world champion.

An ostensible day of rest was not without its setbacks for Pogacar and his UAE team, however, with the withdrawal of the American Brandon McNulty through illness. On top of this blow, Adam Yates finished 29 minutes down while Tim Wellens came last, missing the time cut by two minutes, as sickness continued to takes its toll on Pogacar's crippled team.

Stage 19 is a short but sharp 130km test that features three categorised climbs ahead of the iconic 21 hairpins of Alpe d’Huez, where Pogacar will look to join the legends of the sport by winning there in yellow and having one of the switchbacks take his name.

The Slovenian will take a 4’32” lead over Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) after all the top 10 contenders finished safely in a small group just under five minutes behind the man of the moment, Carapaz, who took the 25th win of his career. No one from South America has now won more Grand Tour stages than the pocket-rocket 33-year-old climber from Ecuador.

Carapaz's victory also saw him rise to tenth in the general classification, albeit 21 minutes down on the four-time champion, Pogacar.

So close, yet so far for the Frenchman who finished fourth today…

1 Tadej Pogacar 70pts
2. Valentin Paret-Peintre 69pts
3. Richard Carapaz 63pts
4. Remco Evenepoel 36pts
5. Paul Seixas 34pts

The yellow jersey group swept up all the escapees bar the leading group of six in the end, with Tadej Pogacar finishing safely in 13th.

1. Richard Carapaz 4:26:21
2. Mauro Schmid +0:45
3. Matteo Jorgenson ”
4. Valentin Paret-Peintre +1:14
5. Tobias Johannessen +1:57
6. Raul Garcia Pierna +2:12
7. Pablo Castrillo +4:30
8. Lenny Martinez +4:35
9. Remco Evenepoel ”
10. Tom Pidcock ”

Tadej Pogacar and all the other riders in the top 10 cross the line in a group of around 15 riders around four and a half minutes down on the winner, Richard Carapaz. Something of a GC truce today with the Alpe d’Huez double header coming up.

A big blow for Pogacar, however, following the earlier withdrawal of his sick team-mate Brandon McNulty.

It’s successive second places for Mauro Schmid of Jayco-AlUla, who is in the form of his life. Second in a sprint yesterday and now second on a mountain top finish – just days after he won Stage 13 to Belfort.

Matteo Jorgenson’s wait for a first Grand Tour stage win continues as the American from Visma-Lease a Bike takes third.

Valentin Paret-Peintre a distant fourth for Soudal Quick-Step as the host nation still await their first win of the Tour.

It’s a well-earned win for Richard Carapaz and EF Education-EasyPost, who have animated a lot of the Tour in search of the win they now have.

It will take an almighty collapse to stop Carapaz from winning now. He has the bull by the horns as he passes under the flamme rouge with a grimace, which will soon be an euphotic smile as he wins in Orcieres-Merlette.

France’s long wait for a stage win will continue – and it’s a double whammy for Paret-Peintre who, at this rate, won’t even move into the lead in the KOM standings. He needs to be in the top three to take the jersey off Pogacar outright – but he’ll be one point short if he comes fourth.

It’s looking that way at the moment because Schmid and Jorgenson have dropped the Frenchman. Carapaz, meanwhile, is 33 seconds clear and on his way to a ninth Grand Tour stage win.

And this time, no one has an answer. Johannessen has already thrown in the towel but Schmid, Jorgenson and Paret-Peintre are with the Ecuadorian when he throws down the hammer. Away he goes, while Paret-Peintre shakes his head, unable to respond.

The polka dot jersey jumps on his wheel but Garcia Pierna has popped. Schmid rides back on, with Jorgenson behind and Johannessen digging deep himself to return.

It’s cagier than a swim with sharks as Matteo Jorgenson comes to the front and checks out his rivals with a testing acceleration. It comes to nothing – even Garcia Pierna responds – before Paret-Peintre tries the same tactic, which is covered by Carapaz and the others.

The Spaniard from Movistar is the only rider who has not pulled on the front – he’s clearly on the rivet. No attacks just yet, with the victory assured for one of these six riders.

The gap is down to 5’15” but Decathlon have now sent a man towards the front of the pack alongside the Red Bull train.

They’ve been going uphill for quite some time but it’s only now that the Cat.1 ascent to Orcieres-Merlette officially begins. It’s 7.1km at 6.7%. When the race last came here, Primoz Roglic beat his compatriot Tadej Pogacar in what was the latter’s debut Tour, with Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe in the yellow jersey (it was only Stage 4).

The former Olympic champion pulls the break along towards the start of the final climb. He is one of the favourites to win what would only be the second Tour stage win of his career.

In the peloton behind, Pinarello Q36.5’s Xabier Azparren sets the tempo ahead of Remco Evenepoel’s Red Bull train. Pogacar, in yellow, only has two UAE team-mate with him: Grossschartner and the white jersey of Del Toro.

The Bernal chase group appears to have thrown in the towel.

The American is clearly wary of the two polka dot jersey rivals, Carapaz and Paret-Peintre, as he’s put in a big dig ahead of the climb, testing the legs and putting his fellow escapees under a bit of pressure. It’s between one of these six riders because the Bernal chase group is now three minutes behind.

The green jersey is now riding alongside the yellow and white jerseys of Pogacar and Del Toro as the reduced peloton approach the summit of the penultimate climb 6’30” down on the six leaders.

The Frenchman keeps up his 100% record and pockets another two points in the polka dot jersey classification. That puts him to within 5pts of Tadej Pogacar, so the jersey will be his outright provided he finishes first, second or third today.

But to what end? He’ll struggle when it all kicks off again. The leaders are approaching the summit with over two minutes on the Bernal chase group, 4’50” on the Simmons group and 7’12” on the peloton.

Raul Garcia Pierna of Movistar has almost rejoined the five leaders as the road edges uphill on the mouthful of a Cat.3 climb, the Cote de Saint-Leger-les-Melezes (2.5km at 6.9%).

Knocked off his bike by a car ahead of the time trial, and ill since the rest day, Brandon McNulty becomes the first UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider to abandon this Tour. The American was dropped on the first climb today and he’s been battling the broom wagon ever since. A big blow for Tadej Pogacar.