UAE Team Emirates’ Darwin Atapuma produced one of the most inspiring rides of the Tour de France to date, as the Colombian finished second on stage 18, earning the red bib for his efforts as the most aggressive rider.
With less than 2km to go on Thursday’s Hors Category (HC) finish in Col d’Izoard, it looked as though Atapuma was going to win the race. But the UAE Team Emirates rider succumbed to late pressure from eventual winner, Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb).
There was also a top-10 finish for UAE Team Emirates’ General Classification contender, Louis Meintjes, who finished seventh, 37 seconds behind Barguil. Chris Froome (Team Sky) held on to the Yellow Jersey, with Meintjes still sitting second in the hunt for the White Jersey behind Simon Yates (ORICA-Scott).
“Today we prepared the stage very well and I think we did a great job. It is a shame we did not take the win, but to get second place, it really means a lot to me. It is almost like a victory,” said Atapuma.
Commenting on his the team’s performance, Meintjes said: “It was a really good day for the team with five in the breakaway and we got second place which is good.”
Friday’s stage 19 heads out of the mountains and towards the Provence region. At 222.5km, this stage is Le Tour’s longest passing from Embrun to Salon-en-Provence. This stage may not cause much of a change within the General Classification standings, as the riders prepare themselves for the following day’s time trial.
Stage 18 results
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 3:38:15
2 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:20
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale “
7 Louis Meintjes (SA) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:37
General Classification results after stage 18
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 78:08:19
2 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Monidale 0:00:23
3 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team 0:00:29
8 Louis Meintjes (SA) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:52
Youth results after stage 18
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica – Scott 68:20:38
2 Louis Meintjes (SA) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:06
3 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bura-hansgroe 0:26:15