The Bardet day of glory

162 riders took the start of stage 18 in Gap. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) was the first in action in the ascent to col Bayard right after the flag off. A front group of 29 riders was formed in the first hill, comprising Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Romain Bardet, Jan Bakelants and Christophe Riblon (AG2R-La Mondiale), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Roman Kreuziger and Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo), Jonathan Castroviejo and Winner Anacona (Movistar), Damiano Caruso and Rohan Dennis (BMC), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Georg Preidler (Giant), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Michael Matthews and Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), Pierre Rolland, Cyril Gautier, Romain Sicard and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Julian Arredondo and Bob Jungels (Trek), Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida), Andrew Talansky, Ryder Hesjedal and Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin), Stef Clement (IAM), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) and Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka).

Rodriguez' quest of the polka dot jersey

On the hunt for the King of the Mountains competition, Rodriguez passed first atop all third and second category climbs before the main difficulty of the day, the col du Glandon. Trek and Giant-Alpecin maintained a steady pace at the head of the peloton as Bardet was threatening Bauke Mollema and Warren Barguil's ninth and tenth place respectively. The maximum time gap was 5.35 at the foot of col de Malissol (km 68). LottoNL-Jumbo reduced the deficit to just above two minutes at the bottom of the ascent to col du Glandon after an attempt by Thomas De Gendt to anticipate the action of the climbers. 11 riders made the difference in the climb: Fuglsang, Bardet, Pinot, Anacona, Caruso, Rodriguez, Rolland, Gautier, Jungels, Talansky and Pauwels. Hesjedal replaced Pinot who got dropped ten kilometers before the summit. 4km before the summit, Rolland accelerated. Bardet and Fuglsang reacted. The Dane crashed. Bardet forged on and Anacona rejoined him. The Frenchman and the Colombian crested the col du Glandon in that order.

Bardet, the king of the downhill

In a similar effort that made him a Critérium du Dauphiné stage winner last month through the downhill of col d'Allos, Bardet rode flat out on his way down from the col du Glandon. In the Maurienne valley, the AG2R-La Mondiale rider had 40 seconds lead over the eight chasers and 2.40 over the yellow jersey group, reunited in the downhill after Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling), Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) had gone clear in the uphill. Bardet kept his advantage of 40 seconds at the top of the spectacular Lacets de Montvernier and after its downhill as well. He reached Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne with enough of a lead to enjoy his first stage victory at the Tour de France ahead of his compatriot Pierre Rolland.