Tour de France 2024

Belgian Campeanerts wins 18th stage in a sprint!

Victor Campenaerts

(Bild: AFP)

As expected, the 18th stage of the Tour de France brought the breakaway's big day! Belgian Victor Campenaerts triumphed in a three-man sprint on Thursday after 179.5 kilometers from Gap to Barcelonnette. Gregor Mühlberger was the only Austrian in what was initially a much larger breakaway group. Compatriot Felix Gall crossed the finish line in the peloton with leader Tadej Pogacar more than 13 minutes behind, but just managed to maintain his 11th place overall.

Campenaerts secured the 4th Belgian stage win in the current Tour. The 32-year-old Lotto pro, once holder of the hour world record, surprised his escape companions Matteo Vercher from France and former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski from Poland on the finishing straight. Mühlberger arrived with the 3rd group in 29th place, 37 seconds behind. In contrast to Gall, the Lower Austrian from the Movistar team plays no role in the overall standings.

"This is the highlight of my career!"
Mühlberger had made it into a leading group of almost 40 riders in the early stages of the hilly stage with 3100 meters of climbing. Kwiatkowski launched the pre-decisive stage shortly before the last of five 3rd category mountain classifications 36 kilometers before the finish. Only Vercher and Campenaerts were able to follow, the trio then worked well together and kept the chasers at bay in the finish. "This is the highlight of my career," said Campenaerts in tears half an hour after crossing the finish line.

Gall must launch an attack on the top ten in the coming days
In temperatures of over 30 degrees in some places, the peloton was more than 15 minutes behind the escapees at one point. Gall would have lost two places in the overall classification. In the end, his lead was just enough to keep Steff Cras (BEL) and Guillaume Martin (FRA), who finished in the group with Mühlberger, at a distance, moving up to 12th and 13th place respectively. The East Tyrolean from the Decathlon team, who finished 8th overall last year, will have to launch his attack on the top ten over the next two days.

On Friday, 144.6 kilometers from Embrun to the Isola 2000 ski resort are on the agenda. Before the 16-kilometre final climb, the Col de Vars and the Cime de la Bonette are two mountains of the highest category. At 2802 meters above sea level, the latter will be the highest point ever ridden over in the history of the Tour de France. A mountain stage with slightly less long climbs will follow on Saturday, before the final time trial in Nice on Sunday.

Pogacar continues to be the clear favorite going into the finale
The Slovenian Pogacar goes into the finale as the clear favorite and with a 3:11 minute lead over his toughest rival, last year's Danish winner Jonas Vingegaard. Both are fighting for their third Tour victory. In third place, only the Belgian time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel is still within striking distance at 5:09 minutes behind. Gall is 19:04 off the lead, but only half a minute behind the tenth-placed Colombian Santiago Buitrago.

The result of the 18th stage:
1st Victor Campenaerts (BEL) Lotto 4:10:20 hrs.
2nd Matteo Vercher (FRA) TotalEnergies
3rd Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) Ineos - both same time
Further:
29th Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar +0:37 min.
54th Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon +13:40
73rd Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull-Bora +13:40

The overall standings:
1st Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE 74:45:27 hrs.
2nd Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma +3:11 min.
3rd Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal +5:09
Further:
11th Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon +19:04
65th Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar +2:49:29 hrs.
88. Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull-Bora +3:11:02