Ben O’Connor climbed to glory on the slopes of the Col de la Loze to win stage 18 of the Tour de France.
The Australian distanced Einer Rubio (Movistar) on the brutal final climb and rode away to a memorable solo win in the mist at the highest point of this year’s race above Courchevel in the French Alps.
After initially being part of a reduced yellow jersey group – containing all of the overall favourites – O’Connor capitalised on hesitation amongst his peers and rode away with Rubio and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) for company.
O’Connor then rode the duo off his wheel and attacked the double digit gradients to take his second ever Tour stage win – his last coming in 2021 in Tignes. It was Jayco-AlUla’s first victory of the race and moved O’Connor into tenth overall after the withdrawal of Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) before the stage began.
Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard attacked Tadej Pogačar in the final few kilometres but was unable to drop the race leader. Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) valiantly marked the move from Vingegaard to edge closer to the final podium in Paris on Sunday.
Sensing fatigue in the legs of Vingegaard, Pogačar attacked with ease and dropped the Dane like a stone to add another 11 seconds to his lead in the yellow jersey. Onley’s resilience pulled him to within just a handful of seconds of Florian Lipowitz’s third place with just three stages remaining.
How it happened
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Stage 18 featured more than 5,600 metres of elevation gain across three hors catégorie climbs: the Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine, and the Col de la Loze, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange as the highest point of this year’s race.
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An attack from Primož Roglič sparked chaos on the early slopes of the Glandon after the Slovenian followed a move sparked by Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike). The unexpected assault from Roglič caused pandemonium after Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) joined the group. Jorgenson attacked once more on the descent to increase the lead group’s gap onto the Col de la Madeleine.
Meanwhile, back down the road on the lower slopes of the second climb, Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) set a furious pace to bring the leaders to within 55 seconds of the remnants of the peloton. The American’s work reduced the group behind him to just three riders: Florian Lipowitz, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar, the best three riders in the general classification.
As the summit approached, Vingegaard launched an explosive dig which only Pogačar could follow, more than 72 kilometres from the finish. The duo rapidly crossed the gap to the breakaway and pushed on as the descent began.
The pace briefly stalled in the valley road. Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) and Einer Rubio (Movistar) capitalised on the hesitation and jumped clear. Jorgenson tracked the skirmish from O’Connor and followed the pair. The three leaders quickly pulled out an advantage as the start of the Col de la Loze approached.
A stinging acceleration from Lipowitz then came from nowhere and gave his rivals little time to respond. Clad in the white jersey as the best young rider in the race, the German began the final climb with more than two minutes advantage on Pogačar and Vingegaard. The 24-year-old soon caught and passed Jorgenson as the American sat up to wait for the yellow jersey group which had grown in size in the valley.
Into the final 10 kilometres, O’Connor led the race solo after distancing Rubio and appeared set to win the stage, having built a gap of more than three minutes to Lipowitz. The UAE Emirates and Pogačar led yellow jersey group were another 25 seconds back down the climb but soon caught Lipowitz who then faded and dropped away.
O’Connor tore into the final five kilometres to further increase his lead. The Australian showed no signs of slowing and held out to take a memorable win. Tadej Pogačar stood up to a late attack from Jonas Vingegaard before dropping the Dane to take second on the day and increase his race lead.
Results
Tour de France stage 18, Vif > Courchevel Col de la Loze (171.5km)
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, in 5:03:47
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +1:45
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:54
4. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Picnic-PostNL, +1:58
5. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +2:00
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +2:25
7. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +2:46
8. Adam Yates (Gbr) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +3:03
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +3:09
10. Sepp Kuss (Usa) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:26
General classification after stage 18
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 66:55:42
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:26
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +11:01
4. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Pinic-PostNL, +11:23
5. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +12:49
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +14:50
7. Kévin Vaquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +16:15
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +18:31
9. Ben Healy (Ire) Ef Education-EasyPost, +25:41
10. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, +29:19
