Richard Carapaz raced aggressively and smartly to take his second ever Tour de France stage win, this time atop the Orcires-Merlette climb, on stage 18.His victory is the first one for the EF Education-EasyPost team at this Tour.It also boosted Carapazs chances of taking the king of the mountains jersey, currently held by yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogaar (UAE Emirate-XRG), who finished minutes behind.He is now third in that contest at seven points back.The Ecuadorian had survived a day of attacks and counter attack in the front group to arrive on the final 7km climb with five others, including fellow polka-dot jersey challenger Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), who ended the day just one point behind Pogaar in the polka-dot jersey race.Around half-way up the climb Carapaz splintered the group with a stinging attack but was brought back. Then spotting his rivals riding on the other side of the road he accelerated again and swiftly built a gap and soloed to the line.It had been, much like yesterday, an aggressive day of racing. By the top of the early Cte d'Engin climb a break of seven, including yesterdays most combative rider Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) who was chasing points at the intermediate sprint, had established themselves at the front.Their numbers would swell until with around 110km to race, the peloton appeared to sit up, content to let the escapees go.Attacks in the peloton saw Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos), Carapaz and Paret-Peintre bridge up to the front of the race.The front group would swell to 14 by the intermediate sprint where Pedersen took the maximum 25 points.Now with 56km left to race attention turned to the stage and the finish up the first category Orcires-Merlette climb and as it pushed the pace some riders dropped.As the race entered its decisive moments at 25km to go Jorgenson attacked the front group, but was marked out, though Paret-Peintre was briefly dropped.The front group stayed together over the top of the third category Cte de Saint-Lger-les-Mlzes and descended to the bottom of the days final climb together. The group was now made up of Jorgenson, Carapaz, Paret-Peintre, Schmid, Johannessen and Garcia Garca Pierna.Further back in the peloton UAE Emirates-XRGs defences looked to under pressure as Brandon McNulty, who crash riding a recon of Tuesdays time trial, abandoned the race and Adam Yates remained below his usual level due to illness.With 12km to go, before the leaders hit the beginning of the final climb Jorgenson tried once again to go away solo but was brought to heel. With a lead of over three minutes over the first chase group come the bottom of the climb the days winner was almost certain to come from the group of six out front.As the race hit the steeper sections of the final climb with around 5km to go Jorgenson once again put a dig in but was marked by Carapaz.With 4km to go Carapaz launched his own stinging attack and only Paret-Peintre was able to follow him. Schmid and Jorgenson then bridged up to the attackers.Then riding on the other side of the road Carapaz once again accelerated and put daylight between himself and the rest. They never saw him again until after the finish.ResultTour de France 2026, stage 18: Voiron > Orcires-Merlette (185km)1. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, in 4:26:212. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco-AlUla, +45s3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in same time4. Valentin Paret-Peintra (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:145. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:576. Ral Garca Pierna (Esp) Movistar, +2:217. Pablo Castrillo (Esp) Movistar, +4:308. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +4:359. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe10. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Pinarello Q36.5, all at same time General classification1. Tadej Pogaar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 64:35:132. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +4:323. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +6:514. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +7:115. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +9:226. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+10:147. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain-Victorious, +12:508. Tom Pidcock (Gbr), Pinarello Q36.5, +12:589. Jordan Jegat (Fra) ToralEnergies, +14:0410. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +21:00

The 2026 Tour de France will take place from the 4th to the 26th of July. Throughout the21 stages, the peloton will be racing through the mountains, sprint stages, cobblestones, individual and team time trials, and even. We take a look at all stages, their official profiles, and preview the days -...

British national champion Fred Wright is battling on through the latter stages of the 2026 Tour de France with several injuries, including a broken bone in his left hand.A heavy crash on stage 17 saw the Pinarello Q36.5 rider hit the tarmac hard, along with fellow teammate, Tom Pidcock.The crash happened during the early stages of a fast and often chaotic stage on Wednesday. "The road sort of narrowed, randomly, and there was a bit of raised pavement that wasn't signalled or anything," Wright told us before starting stage 18. "And yeah, I hit it coming on the side with full speed, and it took me out. It should be pointed out, to be honest - it caused a big crash."Wright and his Pinarello Q36.5 teammates had stages 17 and 18 firmly in their sights as days to launch an attack, but the crash and its repercussions have dealt their best laid plans a serious knockback. Arriving with one knee bandaged and nursing a suspected break in his left hand, Wright revealed hours in hospital instead of getting valuable rest before today's tough mountain stage. "I thought I fell alright, but my hand was really sore and I had scans on it yesterday," Wright continued. "I've broken something. It's a small bone on my finger. It looks like it's broken."Despite the injury, Wright is determined to continue. "It's manageable," he told Cycling Weekly. We are going to get ourselves to Paris."Nevertheless, the disappointment is palpable: "Yesterday was a real shame. The goal was to be aggressive and be up there. And looking at the way the move was, I think, without the crash, I feel like I would have been there. I'll see how I fare today, but yesterday and today, were the days we had to try and be aggressive, and, yeah... in the end I aggressively hit the floor, unfortunately."Wright had been looking forward to getting his national champion's jersey a bit more airplay: "I'd have hoped to have showed it up a bit more, to be honest. So maybe I'll try and show it off a bit today, but yeah, I'm not sure how much is possible, because I didn't have the best sleep last night. "Obviously, being in the hospital, getting the CT scans - it's not it's not ideal prep. So now it's on to three horrible mountain days, but yeah, I should be alright."Wright finished stage 18 156th, 34:13 behind stage winner Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), but comfortably inside the time cut.

The Tour de France is often shaped as much by survival as by strength. Across three weeks of racing from the Grand Dpart in Barcelona on 4 July to the final stage in Paris on 26 July, crashes, illness, heat, fatigue and withdrawals can quickly reshape the peloton, from nervous sprint stages and exp...

In his latest video, Angus Young breaks down the bike and gear he used to take third place in the 2026 Tour Divide. Watch it here and find his full kit list...The post Angus Youngs 2026 Tour Divide Bike and Kit appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

The SilverRider is the latest bike from Silverback incorporating the brand's patent-pending 'S-Shape Skeletal Structure', said to strike a fine balance of power transfer and comfort... all while looking extremely distinctive, of course

Richard Carapaz finally found the reward he had been chasing since the start of the 2026 Tour de France. The Ecuadorian claimed stage 18 in Orcires-Merlette after an impeccable display. The EF Education-EasyPost leader read a chaotic day to perfection from the flag drop, slipped into the decisive b...

Shimano's RX710 gravel shoes bring the brands recently released interchangeable cleat interface, the Pontoon system, to a wider audience. Complete with a synthetic leather upper, a carbon midsole, and BOA dials, the mixed-terrain shoes combine new technology with a lower price point. Find all the details below...The post The Shimano RX710 Gravel Shoe Features Their Pontoon System appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

The 2026 Tour de France classifications will shift across three weeks of racing, from the Grand Dpart in Barcelona on 4 July to the final stage in Paris on 26 July. Across time trials, sprint stages, breakaway opportunities, and the high mountains, each day can alter the shape of the race for the y...