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Thursday, July 24: Stage 18, Pau - Hautacam, 145.5 km (hilltop finish)

Stage 18 live updates | Stage 18 photos | Stage 18 map and profile |

Vincenzo Nibali about wraps up the 2014 Tour de France. Photo ©Sirotti

Major Ascents

• Km 28: Côte de Bénéjacq, 2.6 km @ 6.7% average gradient - category 3
• Km 56: Côte de Loucrup, 2 km @ 7% - category 3
• Km 95.5: Col du Tourmalet, 17.1 km @ 7.3% average gradient, Souvenier Jacques Goddet - hors category
• Km 145: Montée du Hautacam, 13.6 km @ 7.8% - hors category

The Race: Vincenzo Nibali proved his is a deserving yellow jersey when he left the peloton at will and finished alone in the 2014 Tour's final mountain stage, extending his lead to 7min 10sec.

For Alejandro Vlaverde, the day was a catastrophe. He tried an attack on the descent of the Tourmalet, but cracked badly on the climb to Hautacam. The Spaniard lost enough time to fall from second to fourth place. Young rider classification leader Thibaut Pinot now sits in second place, albeit more than seven minutes behind Nibali.

With fifteen seconds separating second from fourth place, the Saturday 54 km individual time trial will be crucial. Pinot has no illusions, considering himself the least capable time trialist of the three (Pinot, Jean-Christophe Péraud and Valverde) in the hunt for second place. Valverde is the reigning Spanish time-trial champion.

Complete Results:

Winner's average speed: 35.7 km/hr

1	Vincenzo Nibali	ASTANA PRO TEAM	4hr 4min 17sec
2	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ.FR	@ 1min 10sec
3	Rafal Majka	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 01' 12''
4	Jean-Christophe Péraud	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 01' 15''
5	Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM
6	Romain Bardet	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 01' 53''
7	Bauke Mollema	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 01' 57''
8	Leopold Konig	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 01' 57''
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 01' 59''
10	Alejandro Valverde	MOVISTAR TEAM
11	Laurens Ten Dam	BELKIN PRO CYCLING
12	Frank Schleck	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 03' 30''
13	Steven Kruijswijk	BELKIN PRO CYCLING
14	Tanel Kangert	ASTANA PRO TEAM
15	Arnold Jeannesson	FDJ.FR	+ 04' 24''
16	Ben Gastauer	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 04' 28''
17	Yury Trofimov	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 04' 30''
18	Pierre Rolland	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 04' 33''
19	Christopher Horner	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 04' 40''
20	John Gadret	MOVISTAR TEAM
21	Peter Stetina	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 04' 59''
22	Rudy Molard	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 05' 20''
23	Brice Feillu	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 05' 23''
24	Mikel Nieve Iturralde	TEAM SKY	+ 05' 25''
25	Cyril Gautier	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 06' 40''
26	Marcel Wyss	IAM CYCLING	+ 07' 22''
27	Luis Angel Mate	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 08' 15''
28	Perrig Quemeneur	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 08' 35''
29	Nicolas Roche	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 08' 55''
30	Sylvain Chavanel	IAM CYCLING	+ 10' 10''
31	Bartosz Huzarski	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 10' 43''
32	Jan Bakelants	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 11' 12''
33	Thomas Voeckler	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 11' 54''
34	Yukiya Arashiro	TEAM EUROPCAR
35	Blel Kadri	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 13' 21''
36	Jurgen Van Den Broeck	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 13' 50''
37	Michael Schär	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 14' 14''
38	Michael Rogers	TINKOFF-SAXO
39	Giovanni Visconti	MOVISTAR TEAM
40	Imanol Erviti Ollo	MOVISTAR TEAM
41	Matthieu Ladagnous	FDJ.FR
42	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 16' 12''
43	Julien Simon	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
44	Alessandro De Marchi	CANNONDALE	+ 16' 16''
45	Christophe Riblon	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 17' 35''
46	Jérémy Roy	FDJ.FR	+ 19' 01''
47	Benjamin King	GARMIN - SHARP
48	Gatis Smukulis	TEAM KATUSHA
49	Tom Jelte Slagter	GARMIN - SHARP
50	Johan Van Summeren	GARMIN - SHARP
51	Matthew Busche	TREK FACTORY RACING
52	Richie Porte	TEAM SKY
53	Markel Irizar Arranburu	TREK FACTORY RACING
54	Kristijan Durasek	LAMPRE - MERIDA
55	David Lopez Garcia	TEAM SKY
56	Bram Tankink	BELKIN PRO CYCLING
57	Geraint Thomas	TEAM SKY
58	Adam Hansen	LOTTO-BELISOL
59	Florian Guillou	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
60	Jean-Marc Bideau	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
61	Sébastien Reichenbach	IAM CYCLING	+ 19' 25''
62	Lars Boom	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 19' 59''
63	Rein Taaramäe	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 20' 14''
64	Joaquim Rodriguez	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 20' 38''
65	Cedric Pineau	FDJ.FR
66	Paul Voss	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 21' 04''
67	Kévin Reza	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 21' 08''
68	Tony Gallopin	LOTTO-BELISOL
69	José Pimenta Costa Mendes	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 21' 45''
70	Tiago Machado	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA
71	Nelson Oliveira	LAMPRE - MERIDA
72	Andriy Grivko	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 22' 04''
73	Jakob Fuglsang	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 22' 04''
74	Michele Scarponi	ASTANA PRO TEAM
75	Matteo Montaguti	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 22' 28''
76	Jon Izaguirre Insausti	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 23' 02''
77	Matteo Tosatto	TINKOFF-SAXO
78	Sébastien Minard	AG2R LA MONDIALE
79	Andreas Schillinger	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA
80	Jesus Herrada Lopez	MOVISTAR TEAM
81	Daniel Oss	BMC RACING TEAM
82	Lieuwe Westra	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 23' 42''
83	Jérôme Pineau	IAM CYCLING	+ 24' 39''
84	Amaël Moinard	BMC RACING TEAM
85	Peter Velits	BMC RACING TEAM
86	Michal Golas	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
87	Marco Marcato	CANNONDALE	+ 26' 29''
88	Peter Sagan	CANNONDALE
89	Niki Terpstra	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 27' 26''
90	Arnaud Gerard	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 28' 14''
91	Sergio Paulinho	TINKOFF-SAXO
92	Gregory Rast	TREK FACTORY RACING
93	Daniele Bennati	TINKOFF-SAXO
94	Albert Timmer	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 29' 19''
95	Bryan Coquard	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 30' 57''
96	André Greipel	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 31' 01''
97	Tony Martin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
98	Simon Clarke	ORICA GREENEDGE
99	Martin Elmiger	IAM CYCLING
100	Christian Meier	ORICA GREENEDGE
101	Michael Albasini	ORICA GREENEDGE
102	Roy Curvers	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO
103	Alex Howes	GARMIN - SHARP
104	Dmitriy Gruzdev	ASTANA PRO TEAM
105	Kristijan Koren	CANNONDALE
106	Armindo Fonseca	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
107	Anthony Delaplace	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
108	Maxim Iglinskiy	ASTANA PRO TEAM
109	William Bonnet	FDJ.FR
110	Tom Dumoulin	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO
111	Elia Viviani	CANNONDALE
112	Lars Bak	LOTTO-BELISOL
113	Maarten Wynants	BELKIN PRO CYCLING
114	Jens Keukeleire	ORICA GREENEDGE
115	Fabio Sabatini	CANNONDALE
116	José Serpa	LAMPRE - MERIDA
117	Jens Voigt	TREK FACTORY RACING
118	Jan Barta	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA
119	Mikael Cherel	AG2R LA MONDIALE
120	Svein Tuft	ORICA GREENEDGE
121	Danny Pate	TEAM SKY
122	Cyril Lemoine	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
123	Alessandro Petacchi	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
124	Thomas Leezer	BELKIN PRO CYCLING
125	Michael Morkov	TINKOFF-SAXO
126	Samuel Dumoulin	AG2R LA MONDIALE
127	Luke Durbridge	ORICA GREENEDGE
128	Sep Vanmarcke	BELKIN PRO CYCLING
129	Jurgen Roelandts	LOTTO-BELISOL
130	Zakkari Dempster	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA
131	Benoit Jarrier	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
132	Nicolas Edet	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
133	Ramunas Navardauskas	GARMIN - SHARP
134	Ruben Plaza Molina	MOVISTAR TEAM
135	Florian Vachon	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
136	Benat Intxausti	MOVISTAR TEAM
137	Vasili Kiryienka	TEAM SKY
138	Mickaël Delage	FDJ.FR
139	Yohann Gene	TEAM EUROPCAR
140	Sebastian Langeveld	GARMIN - SHARP
141	Jack Bauer	GARMIN - SHARP
142	Bernhard Eisel	TEAM SKY
143	Alessandro Vanotti	ASTANA PRO TEAM
144	Adrien Petit	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
145	Romain Feillu	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
146	Marcus Burghardt	BMC RACING TEAM
147	Marcel Sieberg	LOTTO-BELISOL
148	Alexandre Pichot	TEAM EUROPCAR
149	Luca Paolini	TEAM KATUSHA
150	Jean Marc Marino	CANNONDALE
151	Mark Renshaw	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 31' 28''
152	Matteo Trentin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 32' 03''
153	John Degenkolb	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO
154	Koen De Kort	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 32' 04''
155	Tom Veelers	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO
156	Marcel Kittel	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO
157	Arnaud Demare	FDJ.FR
158	Alexander Kristoff	TEAM KATUSHA
159	Vladimir Isaichev	TEAM KATUSHA
160	Roger Kluge	IAM CYCLING
161	Cheng Ji	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO
162	Michal Kwiatkowski	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 32' 14''
163	Maciej Bodnar	CANNONDALE
164	Davide Cimolai	LAMPRE - MERIDA

GC after Stage 18: 3,260.5 km raced so far at an average speed of 40.37 km/hr

1	Vincenzo Nibali	ASTANA PRO TEAM	80hr 45min 45sec
2	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ.FR	@ 7min 10sec
3	Jean-Christophe Péraud	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 07' 23''
4	Alejandro Valverde	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 07' 25''
5	Romain Bardet	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 09' 27''
6	Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 11' 34''
7	Bauke Mollema	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 13' 56''
8	Laurens Ten Dam	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 14' 15''
9	Leopold Konig	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 14' 37''
10	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 16' 25''
11	Pierre Rolland	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 17' 48''
12	Frank Schleck	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 21' 33''
13	Jurgen Van Den Broeck	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 29' 58''
14	Yury Trofimov	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 32' 30''
15	Steven Kruijswijk	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 34' 30''
16	Brice Feillu	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 37' 37''
17	Christopher Horner	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 39' 28''
18	Mikel Nieve Iturralde	TEAM SKY	+ 41' 34''
19	John Gadret	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 41' 41''
20	Richie Porte	TEAM SKY	+ 50' 01''
21	Tanel Kangert	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 50' 34''
22	Ben Gastauer	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 52' 40''
23	Geraint Thomas	TEAM SKY	+ 56' 26''
24	Cyril Gautier	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 57' 15''
25	Jan Bakelants	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 01h 01' 06''
26	Michal Kwiatkowski	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 01h 08' 55''
27	Michael Rogers	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 01h 12' 36''
28	Peter Velits	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 01h 18' 27''
29	Tony Gallopin	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 01h 24' 55''
30	Arnold Jeannesson	FDJ.FR	+ 01h 26' 53''
31	Marcel Wyss	IAM CYCLING	+ 01h 30' 53''
32	Luis Angel Mate	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 01h 31' 50''
33	Peter Stetina	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 01h 41' 10''
34	Sylvain Chavanel	IAM CYCLING	+ 01h 44' 47''
35	Tom Dumoulin	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 01h 47' 29''
36	Jakob Fuglsang	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 01h 47' 55''
37	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 01h 52' 35''
38	Bram Tankink	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 01h 52' 47''
39	Nicolas Roche	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 01h 52' 52''
40	Jon Izaguirre Insausti	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 01h 52' 57''
41	Giovanni Visconti	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 01h 53' 40''
42	Thomas Voeckler	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 01h 54' 08''
43	Michael Schär	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 02h 04' 23''
44	Amaël Moinard	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 02h 07' 48''
45	Rafal Majka	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 02h 07' 50''
46	Kristijan Durasek	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 02h 15' 10''
47	José Serpa	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 02h 19' 25''
48	Michele Scarponi	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 02h 21' 10''
49	Alessandro De Marchi	CANNONDALE	+ 02h 21' 58''
50	Paul Voss	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 02h 22' 45''
51	Tony Martin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 02h 24' 15''
52	Rudy Molard	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 02h 27' 47''
53	Joaquim Rodriguez	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 02h 30' 57''
54	Benjamin King	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 02h 35' 03''
55	Mikael Cherel	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 02h 38' 36''
56	Tom Jelte Slagter	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 02h 38' 45''
57	Jérémy Roy	FDJ.FR	+ 02h 41' 14''
58	Florian Guillou	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 02h 41' 55''
59	Michal Golas	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 02h 43' 32''
60	Jérôme Pineau	IAM CYCLING	+ 02h 45' 38''
61	Yukiya Arashiro	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 02h 46' 05''
62	Adam Hansen	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 02h 48' 00''
63	Peter Sagan	CANNONDALE	+ 02h 48' 43''
64	Jesus Herrada Lopez	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 02h 49' 10''
65	Matteo Montaguti	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 02h 50' 17''
66	Bartosz Huzarski	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 02h 50' 59''
67	Jens Keukeleire	ORICA GREENEDGE	+ 02h 51' 03''
68	Markel Irizar Arranburu	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 02h 53' 12''
69	Kévin Reza	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 02h 57' 07''
70	Tiago Machado	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 02h 57' 57''
71	Daniel Oss	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 02h 58' 05''
72	Michael Albasini	ORICA GREENEDGE	+ 03h 01' 44''
73	Jan Barta	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 03h 01' 47''
74	Johan Van Summeren	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 03h 02' 44''
75	Martin Elmiger	IAM CYCLING	+ 03h 05' 14''
76	Nicolas Edet	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 03h 06' 12''
77	Matthieu Ladagnous	FDJ.FR	+ 03h 06' 21''
78	Blel Kadri	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 03h 06' 35''
79	Lars Bak	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 03h 10' 10''
80	Lieuwe Westra	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 03h 13' 27''
81	Sébastien Reichenbach	IAM CYCLING	+ 03h 13' 28''
82	Vasili Kiryienka	TEAM SKY	+ 03h 14' 02''
83	Imanol Erviti Ollo	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 03h 14' 20''
84	Anthony Delaplace	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 03h 14' 36''
85	Marco Marcato	CANNONDALE	+ 03h 15' 56''
86	Perrig Quemeneur	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 03h 16' 23''
87	Nelson Oliveira	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 03h 21' 29''
88	Koen De Kort	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 03h 25' 57''
89	Rein Taaramäe	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 03h 26' 17''
90	Ruben Plaza Molina	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 03h 26' 44''
91	Sergio  Paulinho	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 03h 27' 27''
92	Matthew Busche	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 03h 28' 24''
93	Samuel Dumoulin	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 03h 29' 41''
94	Sébastien Minard	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 03h 30' 04''
95	Lars Boom	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 03h 30' 29''
96	David Lopez Garcia	TEAM SKY	+ 03h 31' 36''
97	Niki Terpstra	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 03h 31' 42''
98	Matteo Trentin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 03h 33' 59''
99	Andriy Grivko	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 03h 34' 18''
100	Daniele Bennati	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 03h 35' 20''
101	Florian Vachon	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 03h 35' 31''
102	Gregory Rast	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 03h 35' 45''
103	Alexandre Pichot	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 03h 36' 10''
104	Gatis Smukulis	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 03h 36' 12''
105	Jens Voigt	TREK FACTORY RACING	+ 03h 36' 15''
106	Cedric Pineau	FDJ.FR	+ 03h 36' 27''
107	Sep Vanmarcke	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 03h 39' 02''
108	Julien Simon	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 03h 40' 08''
109	Bryan Coquard	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 03h 40' 34''
110	Cyril Lemoine	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 03h 42' 38''
111	Roy Curvers	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 03h 44' 38''
112	Fabio Sabatini	CANNONDALE	+ 03h 45' 14''
113	Maarten Wynants	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 03h 46' 24''
114	Maciej Bodnar	CANNONDALE	+ 03h 47' 06''
115	Jurgen Roelandts	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 03h 47' 23''
116	Simon Clarke	ORICA GREENEDGE	+ 03h 47' 24''
117	Jean-Marc Bideau	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 03h 47' 54''
118	Benat Intxausti	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 03h 52' 02''
119	Matteo Tosatto	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 03h 54' 25''
120	Luke Durbridge	ORICA GREENEDGE	+ 03h 55' 23''
121	Christian Meier	ORICA GREENEDGE	+ 03h 57' 20''
122	José Pimenta Costa Mendes	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 03h 58' 45''
123	Christophe Riblon	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 03h 59' 12''
124	Bernhard Eisel	TEAM SKY	+ 03h 59' 56''
125	John Degenkolb	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 04h 01' 00''
126	Alex Howes	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 04h 03' 16''
127	Yohann Gene	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 04h 06' 06''
128	Alexander Kristoff	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 04h 06' 45''
129	Maxim Iglinskiy	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 04h 08' 27''
130	Arnaud Gerard	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 04h 10' 14''
131	Thomas Leezer	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	+ 04h 10' 15''
132	Svein Tuft	ORICA GREENEDGE	+ 04h 12' 41''
133	Dmitriy Gruzdev	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 04h 14' 30''
134	Kristijan Koren	CANNONDALE	+ 04h 15' 08''
135	Luca Paolini	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 04h 18' 33''
136	Michael Morkov	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 04h 19' 32''
137	Armindo Fonseca	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 04h 19' 46''
138	Roger Kluge	IAM CYCLING	+ 04h 20' 45''
139	Sebastian Langeveld	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 04h 22' 05''
140	Jack Bauer	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 04h 24' 24''
141	Marcel Sieberg	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 04h 28' 04''
142	Andreas Schillinger	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 04h 30' 04''
143	Alessandro Vanotti	ASTANA PRO TEAM	+ 04h 30' 11''
144	Ramunas Navardauskas	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 04h 31' 29''
145	Mark Renshaw	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 04h 31' 35''
146	Albert Timmer	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 04h 31' 45''
147	Mickaël Delage	FDJ.FR	+ 04h 32' 05''
148	Marcus Burghardt	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 04h 33' 57''
149	Zakkari Dempster	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	+ 04h 34' 01''
150	Benoit Jarrier	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 04h 34' 55''
151	Romain Feillu	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 04h 37' 01''
152	Alessandro Petacchi	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 04h 38' 14''
153	André Greipel	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 04h 38' 17''
154	Danny Pate	TEAM SKY	+ 04h 40' 02''
155	Tom Veelers	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 04h 41' 07''
156	Vladimir Isaichev	TEAM KATUSHA	+ 04h 46' 29''
157	Adrien Petit	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 04h 47' 35''
158	Arnaud Demare	FDJ.FR	+ 04h 48' 11''
159	William Bonnet	FDJ.FR	+ 04h 48' 41''
160	Jean Marc Marino	CANNONDALE	+ 04h 49' 25''
161	Marcel Kittel	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 04h 53' 25''
162	Elia Viviani	CANNONDALE	+ 04h 55' 07''
163	Davide Cimolai	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 05h 05' 24''
164	Cheng Ji	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 05h 30' 36''

Points Classification:

1	Peter Sagan	CANNONDALE	408 points
2	Bryan Coquard	TEAM EUROPCAR	253
3	Alexander Kristoff	TEAM KATUSHA	217
4	Marcel Kittel	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	177
5	Vincenzo Nibali	ASTANA PRO TEAM	169
6	Mark Renshaw	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	153
7	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC RACING TEAM	147
8	André Greipel	LOTTO-BELISOL	143
9	Tony Gallopin	LOTTO-BELISOL	105
10	Samuel Dumoulin	AG2R LA MONDIALE	99
11	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ.FR	90
12	Blel Kadri	AG2R LA MONDIALE	83
13	Ramunas Navardauskas	GARMIN - SHARP	82
14	Martin Elmiger	IAM CYCLING	78
15	Daniel Oss	BMC RACING TEAM	78
16	Rafal Majka	TINKOFF-SAXO	77
17	Michael Albasini	ORICA GREENEDGE	77
18	Tony Martin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	76
19	Jean-Christophe Péraud	AG2R LA MONDIALE	76
20	Arnaud Demare	FDJ.FR	74
21	Alessandro De Marchi	CANNONDALE	73
22	Romain Feillu	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	71
23	Romain Bardet	AG2R LA MONDIALE	69
24	Cyril Gautier	TEAM EUROPCAR	68
25	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte	MOVISTAR TEAM	67
26	Sylvain Chavanel	IAM CYCLING	66
27	Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	64
28	Michal Kwiatkowski	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	64
29	Thomas Voeckler	TEAM EUROPCAR	61
30	Lieuwe Westra	ASTANA PRO TEAM	57
31	Michael Rogers	TINKOFF-SAXO	54
32	Sep Vanmarcke	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	53
33	Tom Dumoulin	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	51
34	Nicolas Edet	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	51
35	Bauke Mollema	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	46
36	Lars Boom	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	45
37	Cyril Lemoine	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	44
38	Anthony Delaplace	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	44
39	Kévin Reza	TEAM EUROPCAR	42
40	Daniele Bennati	TINKOFF-SAXO	42
41	Elia Viviani	CANNONDALE	41
42	Alexandre Pichot	TEAM EUROPCAR	40
43	Matteo Montaguti	AG2R LA MONDIALE	39
44	Leopold Konig	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	38
45	Jakob Fuglsang	ASTANA PRO TEAM	32
46	Simon Clarke	ORICA GREENEDGE	32
47	Matteo Trentin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	31
48	Jens Voigt	TREK FACTORY RACING	31
49	John Degenkolb	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	31
50	Angel Mate Mardones Luis	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	30
51	Florian Vachon	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	29
52	Steven Kruijswijk	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	29
53	Richie Porte	TEAM SKY	29
54	Giovanni Visconti	MOVISTAR TEAM	29
55	Jérémy Roy	FDJ.FR	29
56	Jack Bauer	GARMIN - SHARP	29
57	Niki Terpstra	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	28
58	Pierre Rolland	TEAM EUROPCAR	28
59	Frank Schleck	TREK FACTORY RACING	28
60	Perrig Quemeneur	TEAM EUROPCAR	28
61	Mikael Cherel	AG2R LA MONDIALE	27
62	Marco Marcato	CANNONDALE	27
63	Jurgen Van Den Broeck	LOTTO-BELISOL	26
64	Jan Bakelants	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	26
65	Amaël Moinard	BMC RACING TEAM	26
66	José Serpa	LAMPRE - MERIDA	26
67	Matthew Busche	TREK FACTORY RACING	26
68	Maciej Bodnar	CANNONDALE	25
69	Alessandro Petacchi	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	25
70	Vasili Kiryienka	TEAM SKY	24
71	Arnaud Gerard	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	24
72	Laurens Ten Dam	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	23
73	Bartosz Huzarski	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	23
74	Jan Barta	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	23
75	Fabio Sabatini	CANNONDALE	22
76	Jens Keukeleire	ORICA GREENEDGE	21
77	Christophe Riblon	AG2R LA MONDIALE	21
78	Jean-Marc Bideau	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	20
79	Roger Kluge	IAM CYCLING	20
80	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre	TREK FACTORY RACING	20
81	Mikel Nieve Iturralde	TEAM SKY	20
82	Tom Veelers	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	20
83	Geraint Thomas	TEAM SKY	19
84	Moreira Paulinho Sergio Miguel	TINKOFF-SAXO	19
85	Bernhard Eisel	TEAM SKY	19
86	Armindo Fonseca	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	19
87	Jelte Slagter Tom	GARMIN - SHARP	17
88	Matthieu Ladagnous	FDJ.FR	17
89	Gregory Rast	TREK FACTORY RACING	17
90	Adrien Petit	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	17
91	Joaquim Rodriguez	TEAM KATUSHA	16
92	Yohann Gene	TEAM EUROPCAR	16
93	Thomas Leezer	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	15
94	Jérôme Pineau	IAM CYCLING	15
95	Benoit Jarrier	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	15
96	Adam Hansen	LOTTO-BELISOL	14
97	Davide Cimolai	LAMPRE - MERIDA	14
98	Markel Irizar Arranburu	TREK FACTORY RACING	13
99	Julien Simon	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	13
100	Arnold Jeannesson	FDJ.FR	12
101	Marcel Wyss	IAM CYCLING	12
102	Rein Taaramäe	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	12
103	Brice Feillu	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	11
104	Andriy Grivko	ASTANA PRO TEAM	11
105	Albert Timmer	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	11
106	Nicolas Roche	TINKOFF-SAXO	10
107	Zakkari Dempster	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	10
108	Tanel Kangert	ASTANA PRO TEAM	9
109	Yukiya Arashiro	TEAM EUROPCAR	9
110	Jesus Herrada Lopez	MOVISTAR TEAM	9
111	Christian Meier	ORICA GREENEDGE	8
112	Kristijan Koren	CANNONDALE	8
113	Jon Izaguirre Insausti	MOVISTAR TEAM	7
114	Michele Scarponi	ASTANA PRO TEAM	7
115	Roy Curvers	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	7
116	Jurgen Roelandts	LOTTO-BELISOL	7
117	Yury Trofimov	TEAM KATUSHA	6
118	Maxim Iglinskiy	ASTANA PRO TEAM	5
119	Dmitriy Gruzdev	ASTANA PRO TEAM	5
120	Cheng Ji	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	5
121	Bram Tankink	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	4
122	Michael Schär	BMC RACING TEAM	4
123	Florian Guillou	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	4
124	Lars Bak	LOTTO-BELISOL	4
125	Gatis Smukulis	TEAM KATUSHA	4
126	John Gadret	MOVISTAR TEAM	3
127	Paul Voss	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	3
128	Koen De Kort	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	3
129	Vladimir Isaichev	TEAM KATUSHA	3
130	Marc Marino Jean	CANNONDALE	3
131	Luca Paolini	TEAM KATUSHA	2
132	Sebastian Langeveld	GARMIN - SHARP	2
133	Mickaël Delage	FDJ.FR	1
134	Marcus Burghardt	BMC RACING TEAM	1
135	Alessandro Vanotti	ASTANA PRO TEAM	-4
136	Sébastien Minard	AG2R LA MONDIALE	-5
137	Luke Durbridge	ORICA GREENEDGE	-5
138	Tiago Machado	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	-13
139	Andreas Schillinger	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	-20

Mountains Classification:

1	Rafal Majka	TINKOFF-SAXO	181 points
2	Vincenzo Nibali	ASTANA PRO TEAM	168
3	Joaquim Rodriguez	TEAM KATUSHA	112
4	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ.FR	89
5	Jean-Christophe Péraud	AG2R LA MONDIALE	85
6	Alessandro De Marchi	CANNONDALE	78
7	Thomas Voeckler	TEAM EUROPCAR	61
8	Giovanni Visconti	MOVISTAR TEAM	54
9	Alejandro Valverde	MOVISTAR TEAM	48
10	Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	48
11	Romain Bardet	AG2R LA MONDIALE	44
12	Leopold Konig	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	44
13	Blel Kadri	AG2R LA MONDIALE	43
14	José Serpa	LAMPRE - MERIDA	36
15	Mikel Nieve Iturralde	TEAM SKY	36
16	Bauke Mollema	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	34
17	Nicolas Roche	TINKOFF-SAXO	33
18	Tony Martin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	26
19	Vasili Kiryienka	TEAM SKY	24
20	Pierre Rolland	TEAM EUROPCAR	22
21	Jesus Herrada Lopez	MOVISTAR TEAM	22
22	Frank Schleck	TREK FACTORY RACING	20
23	Michael Rogers	TINKOFF-SAXO	19
24	Bartosz Huzarski	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	17
25	Jan Bakelants	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	17
26	Michal Kwiatkowski	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	17
27	Yury Trofimov	TEAM KATUSHA	16
28	Amaël Moinard	BMC RACING TEAM	13
29	Laurens Ten Dam	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	12
30	Cyril Gautier	TEAM EUROPCAR	12
31	Nicolas Edet	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	12
32	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC RACING TEAM	11
33	Jon Izaguirre Insausti	MOVISTAR TEAM	11
34	Geraint Thomas	TEAM SKY	10
35	Julien Simon	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	10
36	Luis Angel Mate	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	9
37	Matteo Montaguti	AG2R LA MONDIALE	9
38	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre	TREK FACTORY RACING	8
39	Daniel Oss	BMC RACING TEAM	8
40	Tom Jelte Slagter	GARMIN - SHARP	7
41	Cyril Lemoine	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	6
42	Sylvain Chavanel	IAM CYCLING	6
43	Kristijan Durasek	LAMPRE - MERIDA	6
44	Martin Elmiger	IAM CYCLING	5
45	Christophe Riblon	AG2R LA MONDIALE	5
46	Jens Voigt	TREK FACTORY RACING	4
47	Steven Kruijswijk	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	4
48	Jérôme Pineau	IAM CYCLING	4
49	Lieuwe Westra	ASTANA PRO TEAM	4
50	Perrig Quemeneur	TEAM EUROPCAR	2
51	Lars Boom	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	2
52	Sebastian Langeveld	GARMIN - SHARP	2
53	Simon Clarke	ORICA GREENEDGE	2
54	Brice Feillu	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	2
55	Peter Velits	BMC RACING TEAM	2
56	Tony Gallopin	LOTTO-BELISOL	2
57	Peter Sagan	CANNONDALE	2
58	Rein Taaramäe	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	2
59	Niki Terpstra	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	2
60	Andriy Grivko	ASTANA PRO TEAM	1
61	Benoit Jarrier	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	1
62	Tom Dumoulin	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	1
63	Kévin Reza	TEAM EUROPCAR	1
64	Tiago Machado	TEAM NETAPP-ENDURA	1
65	Lars Bak	LOTTO-BELISOL	1
66	Gregory Rast	TREK FACTORY RACING	1

Young Rider Classification:

1	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ.FR	80hr 52min 55sec
2	Romain Bardet	AG2R LA MONDIALE	@ 2min 17sec
3	Michal Kwiatkowski	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 01h 01' 45''
4	Tom Dumoulin	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 01h 40' 19''
5	Jon Izaguirre Insausti	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 01h 45' 47''
6	Rafal Majka	TINKOFF-SAXO	+ 02h 00' 40''
7	Rudy Molard	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 02h 20' 37''
8	Benjamin King	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 02h 27' 53''
9	Tom Jelte Slagter	GARMIN - SHARP	+ 02h 31' 35''
10	Peter Sagan	CANNONDALE	+ 02h 41' 33''
11	Jesus Herrada Lopez	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 02h 42' 00''
12	Sébastien Reichenbach	IAM CYCLING	+ 03h 06' 18''
13	Anthony Delaplace	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 03h 07' 26''
14	Nelson Oliveira	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 03h 14' 19''
15	Matteo Trentin	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	+ 03h 26' 49''
16	Bryan Coquard	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 03h 33' 24''
17	Luke Durbridge	ORICA GREENEDGE	+ 03h 48' 23''
18	John Degenkolb	TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO	+ 03h 53' 50''
19	Armindo Fonseca	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 04h 12' 36''
20	Benoit Jarrier	BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	+ 04h 27' 45''
21	Adrien Petit	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	+ 04h 40' 17''
22	Arnaud Demare	FDJ.FR	+ 04h 41' 01''
23	Elia Viviani	CANNONDALE	+ 04h 47' 57''
24	Davide Cimolai	LAMPRE - MERIDA	+ 04h 58' 14''

Team Classification:

1	Ag2R La Mondiale	242hr 40min 57sec
2	Belkin Pro Cycling	@ 28min 33sec
3	Movistar Team	+ 01h 05' 47''
4	BMC Racing Team	+ 01h 12' 25''
5	Team Europcar	+ 01h 26' 50''
6	Team Sky	+ 01h 32' 46''
7	Astana Pro Team	+ 01h 39' 06''
8	Trek Factory Racing	+ 02h 05' 49''
9	Lampre - Merida	+ 02h 29' 02''
10	FDJ.Fr	+ 02h 30' 20''
11	Tinkoff-Saxo	+ 02h 52' 42''
12	Iam Cycling	+ 03h 15' 06''
13	Team Netapp-Endura	+ 03h 18' 42''
14	Omega Pharma-Quick Step	+ 03h 26' 22''
15	Lotto-Belisol	+ 03h 30' 33''
16	Cofidis, Solutions Credits	+ 03h 34' 10''
17	Team Katusha	+ 03h 59' 38''
18	Bretagne - Seche Environnement	+ 04h 44' 05''
19	Garmin - Sharp	+ 05h 44' 30''
20	Orica Greenedge	+ 07h 00' 47''
21	Cannondale	+ 07h 11' 39''
22	Team Giant-Shimano	+ 07h 35' 47''

Stage 18 photos:

No one could stay with Nibali today. Photo ©Sirotti

Thibaut Pinot. Photo ©Sirotti

 

Tejay Van Garderen leads Jean-Christophe Péraud and Rafal Majka. Photo ©Sirotti

Alejandro Valverde leads Laurens Ten Dam. Photo ©Sirotti

Bauke Mollema. Photo ©Sirotti

Romain Bardet. Photo ©Sirotti

Chris Horner. Photo ©Sirotti

Peter Stetina. Photo ©Sirotti

The finish at Hautacam. Photo © Sirotti

It certainly looked like Nibali targeted this stage from the gun. Photo ©Sirotti

Just four more stages to go....Photo ©Sirotti

Stage 18 Live Updates:

Weather at Hautacam, France at 1:45 local time: 20C (68F), rain occurring in a few spots, wind from the west at 11 km/hr (7mph). Forecast is a 60% chance of rain, variable clouds and thunderstorms.

Km 0, 4:01 AM PDT: The riders are just rolling off to start the last day in the high mountains. They are cruising through the neutral zone before the racing proper begins.

Peter Sagan is closing in on a mathematically certain grasp of the green jersey. He currently has a lead of 175 points over Bryan Coquard, but there are only 190 points up for grabs in the remaining stages.

With Nibali racing with such assurance, the most exciting contests are the fights for third place and competition for the GC white jersey. Thibaut Pinot is 6 minutes behind Nibali in third place, Jean-Christophe Péraud follows at 8 seconds and then Romain Bardet is fifth at 7 minutes, 34 seconds. Péraud is not in the hunt for the white jersey.

KM 1: 4:14 AM PDT: Time to race! 166 riders started today. The peloton is already strung out with Jens Voigt and Adam Hansen hitting the front.

Heinrich Haussler (IAM) has abandoned.

Km 8: Perrig Quémeneur and Steven Kruijswijk tried to get away, but the peloton was having none of it.

Km 10: Daniel Oss and Bartosz Huzarski are pounding away off the front and it looks like they may be allowed to go. They have 50 seconds. A good-sized group of maybe 18 riders are chasing. Thomas Voeckler is in there, of course.

Km 12: The 18 have made contact with the two, so we have 20 riders off the front, 1 minute 5 seconds in front of the peloton.

Km 20: We have the names of the riders in the break: Mikel Nieve (Sky), Jesus Herrada and Jon Izaguirre (Movistar), Yuriy Trofimov (Katusha), Alessandro De Marchi and Marco Marcato (Cannondale), Lars Boom (Belkin), Jan Bakelants (OPQS), Blel Kadri (AG2R), Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ), Daniel Oss (BMC), Bryan Coquard, Kévin Reza and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Julien Simon (Cofidis), Sylvain Chavanel and Marcel Wyss (IAM), Bartosz Huzarski and Tiago Machado (NetApp) and Florian Guillou (Bretagne). They have a lead of 2min 35sec over the Astana-led peloton.

Km 28: Gap is out to 3min 48sec. Astana drills a steady tempo at the front. Eight teams missed the break: Tinkoff, Astana, Garmin, Giant, Lampre, Lotto, Trek and Orica.

Km 36: Heinrich Haussler pulled out of the Tour because he was sick last night with a gut bug. That makes 33 riders that have withdrawn from this year's Tour. The Tour has been averaging about 37 abandons/year.

Bartosz Huzarski was first to the top of the Côte de Bénéjacq in front of Europcar's Kévin Reza.

Km 44: Astana is keeping the break on a short leash. With about a hundred kilomters to go in this Tour's last mountain stage, the gap is 3min 25sec. Nibali may want to win the prestigious stage. We're closing on the second third-category ascent, the Côte de Loucrup.

Km 53: The break has begun climbing the Côte de Loucrup. They have averaged 43 km/hr today so far. Shortly thereafter comes the intermediate sprint.

Km 57: Lars Boom was first over the Côte de Loucrup, getting the 2 KOM points, followed by Bartosz Huzarski.

Km 62: Bryan Coquard easily won the intermediate sprint, consolidating second place in the points classification. Looked like Lars Boom was second. Gap from the break to the peloton is back out to 3min 57sec.

Astana is lined up at the front of the peloton with Movistar right behind them.

Km 74: The break has passed through the feed zone and Astana has nailed the break's gap back to 3min 13sec.

Km 77: The break has gone through Campan, the bottom of the Tourmalet ascent. The gap to the pleoton is 3min 30sec. It's a 17.1 km ascent. The break has already split in half.

Km 88: Sylvain Chavanel had tried to ride off the front of the break but was brought back while Blel Kadri and Mikel Nieve now try to escape. The pair are 4min 10sec away from the yellow jersey group.

Km 91: Blel Kadri and Mikel Nieve lead. At 38 seconds are three riders: De Marchi, Trofimov and Huzarski. Then twelve riders and then the peloton, four minuntes behind Kadri and Nieve.

Km 98, 7:05 AM PDT: Kadri was first over the Tourmalet followed by Mikel Nieve. The Trofimov group is 1min 44sec back. The yellow jersey group is 3min 16sec behind Kadri.

Alejandro Valverde is descending the Tourmalet at speed. He's trying to build a time buffer between himself and those riders who are threatening his second place.

Km 108: Movistar has played this perfectly. Valverde's been joined by a couple of teammates, Herrada and Izaguirre.

So with 34.5 km to go: on the bottom part of the Tourmalet's descent we have Kadri and Nieve followed at 91 seconds by the Trofimov group and at 3min 51sec Valverde and at 4min 6sec an unworried yellow jersey.

Km 122, 24 km to go: The Valverde escape has been reeled in by the Nibali group. Kadri and Nieve are 1min 28sec ahead of the Trofimov group and 2min 44sec ahead of the yellow jersey.

Km 128, 17.2 km to go: Astana is drilling hard at the front of the yellow jersey group. Kadri and Nieve still have 90 seconds on the Trofimov group and 2min on the Nibali group.

Km 133: We've started the final Pyrenean climb, the ascent to Hautacam. José Joaquin Rojas has been thrown out of the Tour because he had spent too long drafting a car.

Nieve has gone solo.

The yellow jersey group is only 78 seconds behind Nieve.

Km 135, 10 km to go: Nibali has one teammate.

Bam! Chris Horner attacks, only Nibali marks him.

Horner is lifiting Nibali away from the field.

Km 137: Nibali drops Horner and sets off in hunt of Nieve.

Km 138: Nibali blasts by Nieve without a word. Nibali is now in yellow, off the front, alone. THAT's how you win the Tour de France. Rafal Majka needs to finish seconds to win the KOM.

Km 140: Now Majka steams right by Nieve, hunting for the KOM. Tejay Van Garderen is leading the chase behind Majka and Nibali.

Km 141: Tejay Van Garderen takes Pinot and Bardet. Valverde can't go with the move.

Km 143: The Van Garderen/Peraud group is closing in on Majka. Valverde is still losing grouond.

Km 146: Majka has been caught by Pinot, Van Garderen and Péraud. Nibali is 1min 20sec up the road. Péraud is porbably going to be on the Tour's podium tonight.

The finish: Nibali wins his fourth Tour stage this year, neatly spinning his small gear across the line.

Stage 18 map and profile:

Stage 18 map

Stage 18 profile

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