Ecuador's Richard Carapaz climbed to victory on the Alpine 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday as race leader Tadej Pogacar lost a key teammate to illness.
Former Giro d'Italia winner Carapaz attacked his five breakaway companions with just over three kilometres to ride and cruised to his second Tour stage victory, with Swiss Mauro Schmid beating American Matteo Jorgenson to second place.
🔻 A strong attack, followed by a final kilometre at full throttle before celebrating a magnificent victory – well done, Richard Carapaz!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 23, 2026
🔻 Un démarrage tranchant puis un dernier kilomètre à fond avant de célébrer une magnifique victoire, bravo Richard Carapaz !#TDF2026 |… pic.twitter.com/In0rctNVYr
Pogacar finished safely alongside his main rivals around four-and-a-half minutes later but he was counting the cost of a couple of damaging days as Brandon McNulty was forced to pull out.
That came just a day after another teammate, Adam Yates, struggled home 26 minutes after stage 17 winner Jasper Philipsen after suffering from an upset stomach.
"It's totally different because Adam had stomach troubles, he was vomiting, and Brandon has a type of constipation," said UAE Emirates-XRG sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez.
"When you don't have a fever, you're not positive for covid, nor the flu, nor anything, but your throat hurts, you have mucus, a headache.
"That's what Brandon felt today, right from this morning."
Both McNulty and Yates, whom Pogacar said was getting better, are crucial mountain lieutenants for the reigning champion.
UAE's problems – Tim Wellens also said on Thursday morning that he was not feeling well – could not have come at a worse time.
The next two stages, which both finish atop the iconic Alpe d'Huez mountain, will be brutally tough.
"I'm really sad that today Brandon felt so bad and he could not finish," said Pogacar.
"We will miss him the next two days, obviously, but I think Adam is getting better and tomorrow I think we'll go with the flow.
🗣️ « C'est dommage d'avoir perdu Brandon (McNulty), il était très précieux jusqu'ici. Je pense qu'Adam (Yates) se remet bien, il allait déjà mieux aujourd'hui. J'espère qu'il sera en forme samedi parce que ce sera important d'avoir une équipe forte. »
— Maillot Jaune LCL (@MaillotjauneLCL) July 23, 2026
💛 Tadej Pogacar connaît… pic.twitter.com/WAEZQ7rdMY
"We survive tomorrow's stage, try to come to Alpe d'Huez and see what we can do."
Pogacar still leads Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel by four and a half minutes in the overall standings and, unless he too falls ill, will remain the favourite to win Friday's stage.
He is on course to claim a record-equalling fifth Tour victory to join cycling legends Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
"It's the third week, all the teams are a bit suffering," said the 27-year-old Slovenian, the current two-time world champion.
"You can see the bodies everywhere on the stage like today already.
"We will keep fighting and I believe we can do it."
'VERY EMOTIONAL'
In winning the stage, Carapaz also closed in on the polkadot jersey for the King of the Mountains competition – which he won in 2024 when he earned his first stage win.
That is still held by Pogacar but Carapaz is now only seven points behind.
Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre came close to stripping Pogacar of the polkadot jersey, but fell one place and one point short as he came home in fourth.
"It was a totally crazy day, I went in every breakaway I think – you had to be smart," Carapaz told France Televisions.
"I knew it was a climb (to the finish) which suited me, I'm feeling very emotional.
"It was such a hard day, I've nothing else to say – you have to enjoy it."
He never stopped trying, and today it paid off. 🇪🇨
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 23, 2026
Après de nombreuses tentatives, Richard Carapaz tient enfin sa victoire. 💥
Hear from today’s winner 🎙️#TDF2026 pic.twitter.com/zXwXTd4xCr
On the final 7km climb at the end of the 185.2km stage from Voiron to Orcieres-Merlette, Carapaz tried a first attack, but Paret-Peintre stuck doggedly to his wheel.
Jorgenson also tried his luck, as did Norwegian Tobias Johannessen.
But it was Carapaz's second foray which stuck, with no one able to react.
In the group of favourites, the lack of Pogacar's climbing generals was felt as for once, it was up to other teams to set the pace.
Eighth-placed Tom Pidcock's Pinarello-Q36.5 and ninth-placed Jordan Jegat's TotalEnergies teams set about closing the gap to the break once their lead had reached eight minutes.
Carapaz, who moved up to 10th overall, was starting to threaten their places with such a lead, but their teams did enough to keep him at arm's length.
🔄 Distinctive jerseys update: no update. 😅
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 23, 2026
Our leaders aren’t going anywhere for now! 💛💚🤍❤️
🔄 Update des maillots distinctifs : pas d’update. 😅
Nos leaders ne comptent visiblement pas bouger pour l’instant! 💛💚🤍❤️#TDF2026 pic.twitter.com/aNd6RXl2tX
STAGE 18 RESULTS
1. Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost) – 4h 26' 21"
2. Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) – +45s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – +45s
4. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) – +1m 14s
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – +1m 57s
6. Raúl García (Movistar Team) – +2m 12s
7. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – +4m 30s
8. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) – +4m 35s
9. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) – +4m 35s
10. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – +4m 35s