Results 18th stage 2025 Tour de France
1. Ben O’Connor (aus) 5:03:47
2. Tadej Pogacar (slo) + 1:45
3. Jonas Vingegaard (den) + 1:54
4. Oscar Onley (gbr) + 1:58
5. Einer Rubio (col) + 2:00
6. Felix Gall (aut) + 2:25
7. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 2:46
8. Adam Yates (gbr) + 3:03
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (nor) + 3:09
10. Sepp Kuss (usa) + 3:26
11. Florian Lipowitz (ger) + 3:37
12. Kévin Vauquelin (fra) + 4:34
17. Ben Healy (irl) + 9:28
GC after stage 18
1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (den) + 4:26
3. Florian Lipowitz (ger) + 11:01
4. Oscar Onley (gbr) + 11:23
5. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 12:49
6. Felix Gall (aut) + 15:36
7. Kévin Vauquelin (fra) + 16:15
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (nor) + 18:31
9. Ben Healy (irl) + 25:41
10. Ben O’Connor (aus) + 29:19
Race report
Lidl-Trek sets the pace in the run-up to the intermediate sprint. Green jersey Jonathan Milan takes the win there, and then it’s up to the attackers to make their move. Tim Wellens is the first rider to open a gap, and Wout van Aert, Alexey Lutsenko, Kaden Groves and Jonas Rutsch join him before the Glandon.
On the Glandon, only Wellens and Lutsenko remain out front, while Primoz Roglic, Felix Gall, Thymen Arensman, Matteo Jorgenson, Lenny Martinez, Ben O’Connor, Andreas Leknessund, Raúl García Pierna, Gregor Mühlberger, Einer Rubio and Bruno Armirail replace the other three.
At the summit, Martinez outsprints Arensman for the mountain points. This sees the Frenchman reclaim the polka dot jersey from Tadej Pogacar, but he is dropped on the descent.
Meanwhile, Arensman and Jorgenson go on the attack, leaving the others behind. Alex Baudin joins Roglic and co even before the Madeleine, and on the climb they reel in the two attackers. Pogacar’s domestique Wellens is among the riders who have dropped back by then, leaving a lead group of Arensman, Jorgenson, Roglic, O’Connor, Rubio, Gall, Armirail, and Baudin.
While the gap to the breakaway peaked at 3:30, it’s been reduced by 3 minutes on the Madeleine, as Visma | Lease a Bike set a blistering pace in the peloton. With 5 kilometres to go to the summit, Jonas Vingegaard launches an attack and only Tadej Pogacar is able to follow. They reach the lead group in a blink of an eye.
Jorgenson takes up the pace-setting, with Vingegaard, Pogacar, Roglic, Rubio, Gall, and O’Connor on his wheel. Arensman crests the summit 20 seconds behind the leaders, with Florian Lipowitz another 20 seconds further back. The two come together on the descent.
In the run-up to the final climb, Jorgenson, O’Connor and Rubio slip away, while Arensman and Lipowitz latch onto the group with the yellow jersey. The young German sets off in pursuit 5 kilometres before the Col de la Loze begins. He enters the climb 1 minute after the three front riders.
The others are going at such an easy pace that a peloton of dropped riders manages to rejoin them. At the base of the Loze, they are nearly 4 minutes in arrears. Jorgenson has to let O’Connor and Rubio go early on.
After 10 kilometres on the Col de la Loze, O’Connor and Rubio are 1:40 ahead of Lipowitz, while the GC contenders trail by 3 minutes. Then O’Connor decides he’s had enough of towing Rubio and strikes out on his own.
Little by little, he rides away from the rest of the field, while it’s eerily quiet in the Visma | Lease a Bike camp. Simon Yates sets the pace, and once he’s done, it’s UAE Team Emirates who take the helm. The group catches Lipowitz and soon leaves him behind.
Meanwhile, O’Connor climbs to the most beautiful victory of his career. Roughly 2 minutes down the mountain, Pogacar counters an attack from Vingegaard in the final kilometres. They flash past Rubio the yellow jersey finishes second, 9 seconds ahead of his Danish rival.
Another interesting read: route 18th stage 2025 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2025, stage 18: routes, profiles, videos
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