Tour de France 2026: Carapaz wins first Alpine stage from the break

fotobureau Cor VosRichard Carapaz drops his fellow breakaway riders Matteo Jorgenson, Mauro Schmid and Valentin Paret-Peintre with 3.5 kilometres to go and solos to victory in ski resort Orcières-Merlette. The GC contenders all finish together more than 4 minutes later, meaning Tadej Pogacar retains a commanding lead. (Slideshow route/profile)

Stage 18 Results – 2026 Tour de France

1. Richard Carapaz (ecu)
2. Mauro Schmid (swi) + 0:45
3. Matteo Jorgenson (usa) s.t.
4. Valentin Paret-Peintre (fra) + 1:14
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (nor) + 1:57
6. Raúl García Pierna (spa) + 2:12
7. Pablo Castrillo (spa) + 4:30
8. Lenny Martinez (fra) + 4:35
9. Remco Evenepoel (bel) s.t.
10. Tom Pidcock (gbr) s.t.

GC after stage 18

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Remco Evenepoel (bel) + 4:32
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) + 6:51
4. Paul Seixas (fra) + 7:11
5. Juan Ayuso (spa) + 9:22
6. Mattias Skjelmose (den) + 10:14
7. Lenny Martinez (fra) + 12:50
8. Tom Pidcock (gbr) + 12:58
9. Jordan Jegat (fra) + 14:04
10. Yannis Voisard (swi) + 21:00

Race report
In the flat opening phase, Nicolas Vinokourov, Jonas Abrahamsen, Mathis Le Berre, Lewis Askey and Aaron Gate break clear. The latter two are dropped on the Côte d'Engins, after which Sean Quinn, Anders Halland Johannessen, Liam Slock and Lennert Van Eetvelt take their place. A little later, the front of the peloton also comes alongside.

Sean Quinn, Ben Healy and Mauro Schmid attack in the final 3 kilometres of the climb. Just below the summit, Valentin Paret-Peintre and Richard Carapaz flash past, with the Frenchman winning the sprint for the mountain points.

The road continues to rise after that, and Matteo Jorgenson, Mads Pedersen, Thymen Arensman, Felix Engelhardt, Pablo Castrillo, Nicolas Breuillard and Tobias Halland Johannessen break clear.

Several riders make a further attempt to bridge across on the flat fat road beyond the summit, but without success. Once they're properly over the top, the breakaway has a 40-second lead.

Romain Grégoire opens the chase on the descent and regains contact on a short climb with 120 kilometres to go. The action behind him is far from over, either. Ben Healy, Mauro Schmid, Raúl García Pierna, Mathias Vacek and Jan Tratnik give chase, and on the approach to the Côte de Monteynard, Jasper Stuyven, Louis Vervaeke, Valentin Paret-Peintre and Richard Carapaz bridge across to them. Once on the climb, Egan Bernal also joins the action.

Just before the summit, García Pierna, Vacek, Schmid, Paret-Peintre, Carapaz and Bernal make it across to the breakaway before Paret-Peintre outsprints Carapaz for the KOM points.

The intermediate sprint goes to Pedersen, after which Jorgenson, Johannessen and Engelhardt attack with just under 50 kilometres to go. Schmid and García Pierna bridge across, before Engelhardt is dropped and Carapaz and Paret-Peintre make the jump across.

As they approach the Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes, García Pierna loses contact. He comes clawing back on the climb before Paret-Peintre wins the KOM sprint.

The six riders take the final climb at a steady pace before Carapaz attacks with 4.1 kilometres to go. Only Paret-Peintre can respond immediately, while Schmid and Jorgenson take a little longer. But when the Ecuadorian attacks again, he is clear.

Carapaz solos to victory, with Schmid beating Jorgenson in the sprint for second place. The GC peloton crosses the line 4 minutes and 35 seconds later, meaning Tadej Pogacar retains the Tour lead ahead of Remco Evenepoel and Isaac del Toro.

Another interesting read: route 18th stage 2026 Tour de France.