Coupe de Tunisie

Tour de France
Tour de France
Tour de France
Tour de France Stage 18 – Alps take centre stage as Pogacar defends yellow jersey
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Tour de France

Stage 18 | Mountain

Mountain
Voiron → Orcières-Merlette / 185.2 km
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3.753 km
0 km
185.2 km
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12:00
Flag - Yellow
184KM TO GO: STAGE 18 IS UNDER WAY
After a slight delay – while Milan Frentin (Cofidis) sorted out a mechanical issue – the flag goes down and the race is on.
11:49
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LUKE ROWE TARGETTING WHITE JERSEY FOR SEIXAS, PODIUM AND WIN IN PARIS
Quizzed about Paul Seixas ahead of today’s stage, the Frenchman’s DS at Decathlon CMA CGM was full of confidence ahead of the Alps:
He’s great – he’s chilled. We’re in a position where we can’t really fail. He’s fourth, just 20 seconds off the podium, and we have a stage win [through Olav Kooij]. So the Tour has already been a success for us. Having said that, the goal has to be the podium. He wants it, we want it as a team. We want the white jersey, a podium, and a stage win in Paris. It’s not impossible.
Pushed about how today might pan out, Rowe referenced the illness going around the UAE camp and suggested that Isaac del Toro – currently third in the standings – might find himself under pressure today.
”If I was a betting man, I would say breakaway today. The only way I see it not being a breakaway is if Del Toro is struggling and teams look to put him under pressure. The rumours going around is that he is sick, and if that’s the case, UAE might look to control it. But they obviously have some sickness in the camp so I think it will be a breakaway. You have to let the road decide on the first climb after 25km and we will see how the legs are. The race will explode there and you then have some decisions to make.”
11:43
Sun
RIDERS IN THE NEUTRAL ZONE, MECHANICAL FOR SEIXAS
The peloton is currently rolling through Voiron at the start of the 10km long neutral zone ahead of the official start of Stage 18. The sun is out and it’s a pleasant 24 degrees Celsius currently. Paul Seixas has a mechanical issue, it seems, and has slowed up to get some assistance from his Decathlon CMA CGA car.
11:41
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POGACAR UPBEAT DESPITE ILLNESS CONCERNS AT UAE
The world champion and four-time Tour winner also brought up his second place behind compatriot Primoz Roglic in Orcieres-Merlette six years ago in his debut Tour.
Nice stage, nice memory from six years ago. Let’s enjoy today and try to save some energy for tomorrow and the next day. It’s hard knowing someone is sick in the team. But yesterday Adam [Yates] was already better than he was in the TT and I believe that tomorrow and Saturday he can be good again. He’s still eating separately in his room with room service. I think it’s easier to catch a disease from fans spitting on us while they cheer on the side of the road than inside the team bubble.
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Image credit: Getty Images

11:34
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REMCO EVENEPOEL TO DEFEND, NOT ATTACK
The Belgian is 4’32” down on Tadej Pogacar in the general classification and although today’s final climb suits his characteristics to a tee, he says that he will defend as opposed to attack – with those two stages to Alpe d’Huez still on the horizon.
Evenepoel described this final Alpine chapter as ”the hardest end that we probably ever had to the Tour”.
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