Primoz Roglic retained his lead on compatriot Tadej Pogacar atop the Tour de France standings after stage 18 as British outfit Ineos claimed a one-two finish on Thursday.
Bedevilled by problems that saw them withdraw captain Egan Bernal on Wednesday, teammate Michal Kwiatkowski won the stage as Richard Carapaz took the King of the Mountains jersey with the pair crossing the finish line three minutes ahead of the elite pack.
“I had the best legs ever, the way we rode together with Richard was just incredible,” said Ineos’s Polish rider who is a former world champion.
In the race for the overall standings only Saturday’s individual time trial presents a chance for the second-placed Pogacar to stage a coup.
Roglic leads Pogacar by 57 seconds with Friday’s stage 19 and the culminating run up the Champs-Elysees on Sunday both set to be decided in a mass bunch sprint. Miguel Angel Lopez of Colombia is still third.
