This article was originally published on Cyclingnews.
Just as in the Critérium du Dauphiné in June, Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) used his descending skills to break away and take a solo victory on stage 18 of the Tour de France.
Yesterday’s stage was a carbon copy of that day in the Dauphiné but Bardet chose to repeat his tactic on the second day in the Alps, which took the riders 186.5km from from Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The Frenchman attacked from the break just shy of the summit of the Hors Category Col du Glandon and carved out an advantage in style on the way down the mountain before holding his lead over the Lacets de Montvernier and the 10 subsequent kilometres to the line.
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Compatriot Pierre Rolland (Europcar) set off in pursuit after cresting the picturesque Lacets, or shoelaces, which were making their first appearance in the Tour, but he couldn’t gain any ground. Winner Anacona (Movistar) took third from the fragments of what had once been a 29-rider breakaway.
It is a debut Tour de France stage win for Bardet, for whom the icing on the cake was to move into the top 10 on general classification at the expense of Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin).
“It was a very tricky start today. I think everyone was pretty tired at the start of today, so it was tough for everyone. I’m a good descender so I had just enough energy left at the end to get across the line. I knew the end of this stage really well. We took it on at the end of the Dauphiné as well, so I know this route by heart. The last kilometres, even though I knew them well, were very long,†Bardet said.
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