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O'Connor climbs to Alpine stage 18 as Pogacar extends Tour lead / Photo: © AFP
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O'Connor climbs to Alpine stage 18 as Pogacar extends Tour lead
Australian Ben O'Connor won stage 18 of the Tour de France with a world class climb over three Alpine mountains on Thursday as defending champion Tadej Pogacar extended his race lead on Jonas Vingegaard.
Starting with the day with a deficit of 4min 15sec, second-placed Vingegaard attacked a massive 71km out.
Pogacar tracked him and eventually dropped the Dane to gain another 11sec on the Team Visma rider who won the 2022 and 2023 Tour de France.
Jayco Alula's stage winner O'Connor said he was relieved to win again four years after his triumph in the Alps at Tignes.
"It's amazing to win here and I'm relieved to get a win for the team," said a beaming O'Connor, who rode at a steady pace all the way up the final climb.
Team UAE's Pogacar is now on the cusp of a fourth Tour de France title, after reversing the roles and sitting on Vingegaard's wheel and wasting little energy.
Vingegaard was subdued atop the Col de La Loze.
"It was brutal, I've never lived anything so hard. The team did well and we had a good plan, but I couldn't take any time off Tadej," he said.
Friday's majestic five mountain slog amidst the imposing panoramas between Albertville and La Plaigne will be the last chance for a reversal of fortunes with 60km of steep slopes to negotiate.
The race ends Sunday in Paris with the finish line at the Champs Elysees after three climbs to the Sacre Coeur Basilica on the cobbled lanes of Montmartre.
L. de Freitas--JDB
