Victor Campenaerts of Belgium secured his first-ever Tour de France stage win on Stage 18, completing the 179.5km route from Gap to Barcelonnette ahead of his breakaway companions. The Lotto–Dstny rider emerged from a leading trio to claim victory in a dramatic finish.
Campenaerts, alongside Michal Kwiatkowski and Matteo Vercher, stayed clear of the peloton as they approached the final kilometers. With 100 meters remaining, Campenaerts surged to the front and secured the stage win, crossing the line with apparent ease.
The yellow jersey group arrived over 13 minutes later, with general classification contenders staying together. Tadej Pogacar retained his overall lead with a margin of three minutes and 11 seconds. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard remains in second place, while Remco Evenepoel is in third, trailing Pogacar by five minutes and nine seconds.
The Tour’s final two stages are set to feature mountainous terrain followed by an individual time trial on Sunday, marking Stage 18 as a critical opportunity for non-GC riders to seize a stage win.
Throughout the day, a breakaway group of over 30 riders included Ineos Grenadiers’ Kwiatkowski and Geraint Thomas. The stage, which featured five category three climbs, saw the lead group fragment on the penultimate ascent, with Thomas making a move on the descent.
Kwiatkowski, who secured Ineos’ sole stage win in last year’s Tour, was the first to summit the final categorized climb. He was later joined by Campenaerts and Vercher, forming a leading trio that managed to fend off the pursuing peloton.
Vercher made an attempt to break away with one kilometer to go, but the trio regrouped before Campenaerts launched his decisive move, holding off his rivals to clinch the stage victory.
“I’ve been dreaming about this for a very long time,” said an emotional Campenaerts. “I had a very difficult time [with Lotto-Dstny], but I became a father and it was like, only blue skies. The support I have from my girlfriend is incredible. She is the hero in this story.”
“I will be leaving the team but I’m so happy that we can finish off with maybe the highlight of my career,” he added.
