Riding behind O'Connor, Vingegaard and Pogačar closely watched each other in the final climb. Vingegaard attacked his Slovenian rival but Pogačar responded with ease. Vingegaard and his teammates had also tried to hurt the defending champion earlier in the day in the Col de La Madeleine, but their effors left Pogačar unfazed.

The 3-time champion keeps the yellow jersey and a lead of 4 minutes and 26 seconds with three days left as Ben O’Connor wins the challenging Alpine stage.

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar shares how he feels after Stage 18 of the Tour de France, explaining that he "wanted the stage win" but Australian Ben O'Connor "was incredibly strong" and "pulled it off quite well.