ORCIERES MERLETTE, France: Ecuadorean Richard Carapaz launched a decisive attack during the final climb to Orcieres-Merlette to secure a solo victory in stage 18 of the Tour de France on Thursday.The EF Education-EasyPost rider spread his arms in celebration as he crossed the finish line 45 seconds before Mauro Schmid with Matteo Jorgenson third.Overall leader Tadej Pogacar and other general classification contenders did not challenge for the stage and finished over four minutes back. The Slovenian retained his advantage of four minutes and 32 seconds over nearest rival Remco Evenepoel.Carapaz, with the ninth Grand Tour stage win of his career, rose to 10th position overall. "This final climb was tough and suited my strengths well. I bided my time… and the best thing is that I was able to enjoy the victory," said Carapaz, who won a Tour de France stage in 2024. "This was a hard-fought victory, but just as tough as the first one. It gets harder every year to win here."EasyPost's Richard Carapaz in action before winning stage 18. (Reuters)PEDERSEN EXTENDS GREEN JERSEY LEADThe riders started fast despite the mountainous terrain testing them in the 185.2 km ride from Voiron, covering 42.5 km in the first hour. Points classification leader Mads Pedersen, whose advantage was cut to seven points after Jasper Philipsen won stage 17, consolidated his position as he joined an early breakaway group.No one challenged the Danish green jersey holder as he launched a late attack to win the intermediate sprint, increasing his lead over Philipsen to 32 points, before dropping back.The top 10 overall leaders were sitting comfortably in the peloton, unperturbed as they fell over eight minutes behind with 30 km to go.UAE Team Emirates - XRG's Tadej Pogacar celebrates on the podium wearing the yellow jersey after stage 18. (Reuters)The peloton started to pick up the pace as they neared the climb to Cote de Saint-Leger-les-Melezes, while the six-man leading group, including Jorgenson, Carapaz and French climber Valentin Paret-Peintre, speeded up to keep the chasers at bay.During the final ascent to Orcieres-Merlette, Carapaz broke away from the group with 3.5 km left in the stage. The others failed to keep up as the 33-year-old built a lead of 37 seconds going into the final kilometre to ensure a comfortable victory. The race will have its penultimate mountain stage on Friday, a 127.9 km ride from Gap to Alpe d'Huez, as Pogacar closes in on his fifth Tour de France title.
