Tadej Pogacar survives Jonas Vingegaard's Alpine raid to hold on to yellow jersey - Ben O'Connor wins on Col de la Loze

Ben O'Connor has won the mythical stage up to the Col de la Loze - the 18th stage of the Tour was the hardest day of the Tour de France both on paper and on the road. Jonas Vingegaard attacked Tadej Pogacar with over 70 kilometers to go, but ultimately couldn't make the difference in the first Alpine stage.

Another day that was raced all-out from the very start, with Lidl-Trek taking up the responsibility in the peloton up until the first intermediate sprint so as to increase their lead in the points classification with Jonathan Milan. Right after the sprint the attacks began, with Tim Wellens notably being present in front by himself at first, but then joined by other figures. A small group formed itself before the Col du Glandon but once the 21-kilometer long climb truly began then serious moves began.

Bruno Armirail led the group up almost the entire way up the climb, working for 7th place Felix Gall who moved to the head of the race together with Primoz Roglic, both threatening their direct rivals in the overall classifications. Matteo Jorgenson of Visma put in some tactical pressure on UAE who did have Tim Wellens, albeit not with the same climbing legs. Lenny Martínez, Raul García Pierna, Will Barta, Gregor Muhlberger, Einer Rubio, Michael Woods, Alexey Lutsenko and Andreas Leknessund were also in front. Ben O'Connor and Thymen Arensman would also jump across, but there were several groups on the road almost the entire way up the ascent, against a UAE-led peloton where Nils Politt took responsibility.

On the Col de Madeleine the speed began to increase, with Visma taking control of the peloton and using all of their available riders to set up an attack. As soon as Sepp Kuss took control of the group the pace was so high that only Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar could follow, and the Dane finally attacked with 71.5 kilometers to go, followed by the yellow jersey who didn't show signs of fragility. The two bridged to the front group where Matteo Jorgenson paced into the summit, with O'Connor, Rubio, Gall and Roglic following the wheels. Lipowitz bridged across after the full-speed descent led by Jorgenson, and on the flat section between the two climbs the tactical race truly began.

O'Connor, Rubio and Jorgenson attacked out front and got a gap over the rest, where Felix Gall urgently tried to move and take advantage of his favourable position. Vingegaard and Roglic covered all attacks, much to the anger of Gall and Arensman who saw their opportunities slip away. The trio entered the final climb 1 minute ahead of Florian Lipowitz who managed to escape the group, whilst the main GC group and the Oscar Onley group connected after a fierce chase from Picnic PostNL and other teams whilst the Pogacar group had a standstill.

In the final climb Jorgenson dropped early on from the front, whilst O'Connor then attacked Rubio with 16 kilometers and went solo off the front. The Australian saved Team Jayco AlUla's race with a masterful performance in the Alps and in the fog, taking a memorable stage win atop the Col de la Loze - the highest climb in this year's race.

In the peloton Visma at first paced up the climb, but with no signs of UAE or Pogacar in difficulty, the Emirati team itself picked up the pace in the second half of the climb, all the way until 2 kilometers to go where Vingegaard tried once again but with no success. In the final kilometer the yellow jersey attacked to gain a few seconds and arrive second at the finish line followed by the Dane.