Ecuador's Richard Carapaz climbed to victory on the Alpine 18th stage of the Tour de France 2026 on Thursday, as race leader Tadej Pogačar lost a key teammate to illness.

Former Giro d'Italia winner Carapaz attacked his five breakaway companions with just over three kilometers to ride and cruised to his second Tour de France stage victory, with Swiss Mauro Schmid beating American Matteo Jorgenson to second place.

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Pogačar finished safely alongside his main rivals around four and a half minutes later, but he was counting the cost of a couple of damaging days as Brandon McNulty was forced to pull out.

That came just a day after another teammate, Adam Yates, struggled home 26 minutes after Stage 17 winner Jasper Philipsen after suffering from an upset stomach.

"It's totally different because Adam had stomach troubles, he was vomiting, and Brandon has a type of constipation," said UAE Emirates-XRG sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez. "When you don't have a fever, you're not positive for Covid, nor the flu, nor anything, but your throat hurts, you have mucus, a headache - that's what Brandon felt today, right from this morning."

Both McNulty and Yates, whom Pogačar said was getting better, are crucial mountain lieutenants for the reigning champion.

UAE's problems - Tim Wellens also said on Thursday morning that he was not feeling well - could not have come at a worse time.

The next two stages, which both finish atop the iconic Alpe d'Huez mountain, will be brutally tough.

"I'm really sad that today Brandon felt so bad and he could not finish," Pogačar said. "We will miss him the next two days, obviously, but I think Adam is getting better, and tomorrow, I think we'll go with the flow. We survive tomorrow's stage, try to come to Alpe d'Huez and see what we can do."

Pogačar still leads Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel by four and a half minutes in the overall standings and, unless he too falls ill, will remain the favorite to win Friday's stage.

He is on course to claim a record-equaling fifth Tour victory to join cycling legends Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.

"It's the third week, all the teams are a bit suffering," said the 27-year-old Slovenian, the current two-time world champion. "You can see the bodies everywhere on the stage like today already. We will keep fighting, and I believe we can do it."

Richard Carapaz Very Emotional After Winning Stage 18 At The Tour de France 2026

In winning the stage, Carapaz also closed in on the polkadot jersey for the King of the Mountains competition - which he won in 2024 when he earned his first stage win.

That is still held by Pogačar, but Carapaz is only seven points behind.

Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre came close to stripping Pogačar of the polka dot jersey, but he fell one place and one point short as he came home in fourth.

"It was a totally crazy day, I went in every breakaway I think - you had to be smart," Carapaz told France Televisions. "I knew it was a climb (to the finish) which suited me, I'm feeling very emotional. It was such a hard day, I've nothing else to say - you have to enjoy it."

On the final 7-kilometer climb at the end of the 185.2-kilometer stage from Voiron to Orcieres-Merlette, Carapaz tried a first attack, but Paret-Peintre stuck doggedly to his wheel.

Jorgenson also tried his luck, as did Norwegian Tobias Johannessen.

But it was Carapaz's second foray which stuck, with no one able to react.

In the group of favorites, the lack of Pogačar's climbing generals was felt, as for once, it was up to other teams to set the pace.

Eighth-place Tom Pidcock's Pinarello-Q36.5 and ninth-place Jordan Jegat's TotalEnergies teams set about closing the gap to the break once their lead had reached eight minutes.

Carapaz, who moved up to 10th overall, was starting to threaten their places with such a lead, but their teams did enough to keep him at arm's length.

Tour de France 2026 Stage 18 Results – Top 25

1. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 4:26:11 (B10)
2. Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) – 4:27:00 (B6)
3. Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 4:27:00 (B4)
4. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) – 4:27:35
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 4:28:18
6. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 4:28:33
7. Raúl García Pierna (Movistar Team) – 4:30:51
8. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 4:30:56
9. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 4:30:56
10. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 4:30:56
11. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 4:30:56
12. Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) – 4:30:56
13. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 4:30:56
14. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 4:30:56
15. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 4:30:56
16. Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 4:30:56
17. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 4:30:56
18. Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 4:30:56
19. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 4:30:56
20. Jai Hindley (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 4:31:00
21. Derek Gee-West (Lidl - Trek) – 4:31:25
22. Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla) – 4:31:37
23. Carlos Verona (Lidl - Trek) – 4:31:52
24. Sergio Higuita (XDS Astana Team) – 4:32:09
25. Quinn Simmons (Lidl - Trek) – 4:32:12

Tour de France 2026 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 18

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 64:34:21 (B52)
2. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 64:38:53 (B20)
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 64:41:40 (B24)
4. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 64:42:16 (B8)
5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) – 64:44:35
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 64:45:27
7. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 64:48:03
8. Jordan Jegat (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 64:48:03 (B8)
9. Tom Pidcock (TotalEnergies) – 64:49:17
10. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 64:55:59 (B14)
11. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 64:58:39
12. Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 65:00:51
13. Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 65:22:34
14. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 65:23:48 (B6)
15. Sepp Kuss (Netcompany INEOS) – 65:23:59
16. Egan Bernal (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 65:35:50
17. Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 65:42:52
18. Jai Hindley (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 65:44:14
19. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 65:46:37
20. Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 65:49:31
21. Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 65:54:36
22. Quinn Simmons (Lidl - Trek) – 65:55:20 (B6)
23. Carlos Verona (Lidl - Trek) – 65:57:34
24. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 66:02:24
25. Derek Gee-West (Lidl - Trek) – 66:09:01

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