Thursday, July 23rd, 18th stage: Voiron > Orcières-Merlette– The venue of Orcières-Merlette, forever associated with Luis Ocaña’s legendary assault, crowned another spectacular attacker on Friday: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), the winner of stage 18 of the Tour de France 2026. Already on the move in most of the previous mountain stages, the Ecuadorian climber made the most of the entry into the Alps to claim victory in his traditional fashion. First, he took part in the massive battle for the breakaway. Then, he battled with Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) for the KOM points atop the day’s climbs. Finally, he distanced his rivals with a couple of strong attacks on the last ascent of the day, eventually covering the final three kilometres solo. Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) finishesd second, just as he did the day before on much easier terrain. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) rounded out the stage’s top 3. GC contenders stayed together but Carapaz enters the overall top 10 thanks to the time gained with his long-range attack.
It was time for the grand Alpine finale. On the 18th day of racing, Paris appeared to be within reach, but several major climbs still stood between the peloton and the finish, beginning with the ascent to Orcières-Merlette. The Category 1 climb was less demanding than the hors catégorie giants awaiting the riders in the double summit finish at Alpe d’Huez on Friday and Saturday. Still, Stage 18 featured 3,900 meters of elevation gain — 400 meters more than Friday’s stage. With opportunities to attack rapidly diminishing, the peloton approached Orcières-Merlette, where memories remained of Luis Ocaña’s iconic solo victory on these slopes in 1971.
Fourteen riders formed the breakaway
More than half a century after Ocaña’s legendary attack, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) launched the day’s first move. It took a prolonged battle before a breakaway finally established itself.
EF Education-EasyPost was particularly active, but Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) claimed 10 King of the Mountains points atop the Côte d’Engins (km 36.7) before a seven-rider group broke clear at km 41. The group included Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla), Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) and Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies).
Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) used the ensuing descent to bridge across to the leaders. Attacks continued behind, and about 30 riders launched a chase from the peloton. Six of them made contact with the leaders in the final kilometer of the Côte de Monteynard: Valentin Paret-Peintre, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar).
Jorgenson attacked as McNulty abandoned
Valentin Paret-Peintre collected maximum KOM points atop the Côte de Monteynard (Category 2, km 92.2) and again at the Côte des Terrasses (Category 3, km 112.8). Pedersen then claimed maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Corps (km 129), extending his lead over Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the green jersey competition to 29 points.
The breakaway began to split apart as the riders entered the final 50 kilometers. Jorgenson launched the first acceleration, with Johannessen responding immediately. García Pierna and Schmid quickly joined them before Carapaz bridged across, bringing Paret-Peintre with him.
As the break’s advantage grew to 8 minutes, 10 seconds, several teams assumed control of the peloton to protect their leaders’ general classification positions, including Tom Pidcock’s Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Jordan Jegat’s TotalEnergies and Yannis Voisard’s Tudor Pro Cycling Team. Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar lost a key teammate as Brandon McNulty, struggling through the stage, abandoned the race.
Carapaz attacked as Pogačar followed
Jorgenson accelerated several more times, but each move was matched by his fellow escapees. The six leaders remained together at the base of the final climb to Orcières-Merlette (Category 1, 7.1 km at 6.7%).
Jorgenson again made the first move just inside the final 5 kilometers, but the decisive attack came from Carapaz. The Ecuadorian climber surged with 4 kilometers remaining and attacked again 1 kilometer later. Carapaz rode alone over the final 3 kilometers to claim the stage victory, finishing 45 seconds ahead of Mauro Schmid and Matteo Jorgenson.
The victory marked Carapaz’s second Tour de France stage win, following his breakthrough triumph in Superdévoluy two years earlier. Valentin Paret-Peintre finished fourth, raising his King of the Mountains total to 69 points — one behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who matched the pace set by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on the final ascent.
Stage 18 Results:
| 1 | R. CARAPAZ | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 04h 26′ 21” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | M. SCHMID | TEAM JAYCO ALULA | 04h 27′ 06” | + 00h 00′ 45” | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | M. JORGENSON | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 04h 27′ 06” | + 00h 00′ 45” | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | V. PARET PEINTRE | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 04h 27′ 35” | + 00h 01′ 14” | – | – |
| 5 | T. JOHANNESSEN | UNO-X MOBILITY | 04h 28′ 18” | + 00h 01′ 57” | – | – |
| 6 | R. GARCIA | MOVISTAR TEAM | 04h 28′ 33” | + 00h 02′ 12” | – | – |
| 7 | P. CASTRILLO | MOVISTAR TEAM | 04h 30′ 51” | + 00h 04′ 30” | – | – |
| 8 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 04h 30′ 56” | + 00h 04′ 35” | – | – |
| 9 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 04h 30′ 56” | + 00h 04′ 35” | – | – |
| 10 | T. PIDCOCK | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 04h 30′ 56” | + 00h 04′ 35” | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 18:
| 1 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 64h 35′ 13” | – | B : 52” | – |
| 2 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 64h 39′ 45” | + 00h 04′ 32” | B : 20” | – |
| 3 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 64h 42′ 04” | + 00h 06′ 51” | B : 24” | – |
| 4 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 64h 42′ 24” | + 00h 07′ 11” | B : 8” | – |
| 5 | J. AYUSO | LIDL-TREK | 64h 44′ 35” | + 00h 09′ 22” | – | – |
| 6 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 64h 45′ 27” | + 00h 10′ 14” | – | – |
| 7 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 64h 48′ 03” | + 00h 12′ 50” | – | – |
| 8 | T. PIDCOCK | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 64h 48′ 11” | + 00h 12′ 58” | B : 8” | P : 20” |
| 9 | J. JEGAT | TOTALENERGIES | 64h 49′ 17” | + 00h 14′ 04” | – | – |
| 10 | R. CARAPAZ | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 64h 56′ 13” | + 00h 21′ 00” | B : 14” | – |
