Victor Campenaerts Claims First Tour Stage Win

Victor Campenaerts of Belgium secured his first-ever stage victory in the 2024 Tour de France on Stage 18 covering 179.5 kilometers from Gap to Barcelonnette. Campenaerts, riding for Lotto-Dstny triumphed in a breakaway with Michal Kwiatkowski and Matteo Vercher, who led for most of the stage. With just 100 meters remaining, Campenaerts surged ahead to claim the win, finishing with a comfortable margin. The main peloton, including the yellow jersey group, arrived over 13 minutes later.

Tadej Pogacar retained his overall lead, now 3 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, who holds second place. Remco Evenepoel stays in third, 5 minutes and 9 seconds behind Pogacar. The stage featured a large breakaway group of over 30 riders, including Kwiatkowski and Ineos Grenadiers teammate Geraint Thomas. The route included five category three climbs, and the leading group began to fragment during the penultimate climb. Thomas attacked on the descent but Kwiatkowski, Campenaerts and Vercher soon caught him.

As the trio worked together to maintain their lead, Vercher attacked with one kilometer to go but Campenaerts soon reeled him in. Campenaerts timed his final attack perfectly and finished the stage in 4 hours, 10 minutes and 20 seconds. An emotional Campenaerts expressed his joy, attributing his success to personal support and recent life changes, including becoming a father. Matteo Vercher and Michal Kwiatkowski finished in the same time as Victor Campenaerts while Toms Skujins and Oier Lazkano crossed the line 22 seconds behind.

In the general classification, Pogacar continues to lead with Vingegaard and Evenepoel following in second and third places, respectively. The Tour now heads into its final stages with two mountain stages and an individual time trial remaining.