He waited a lifetime, but it was worth it: Victor Campenaerts wins stage 18 of the Tourand he did it in a non-trivial and predictable way, but by exploiting his skills as a rouleur (he who is a great time trial man) to then outwit his two breakaway companions at the finish line in the final part of the stage, namely the former world champion Kwiatkowski and the French Evening. Nothing happens in the general classification: all good in view of the fireworks expected tomorrow and Saturday, with the arrivals uphill at Isola 2000 and the Col de la Couillole which will decide the fate of a race which, barring any surprises, has already issued all kinds of verdicts.
Campenaerts fools everyone: Kwiatkowski the big loser
The stage with arrival at Barcelonnette it lent itself to long ambushes, and the ambushes promptly arrived. The escape starts very early and splits the yellow jersey group in two, which of course lets them do their thing (thoughts turn to the Alpine stages tomorrow and the day after). There are over 30 escapees, with Van Aert, Matthews and Kwiatkowski chasing a stage win that would mean a lot (of the Poel instead he misses the right moment and joins the group: the Dutchman is critical at the start of the stage, so much so that he wonders whether it makes sense for someone with his characteristics to race all three weeks of a grand tour).
Finally, after many ups and downs, the trio is formed and arrives docilely at the finish line: with Kwiatkowski there are Campenaerts and Vecher, with the latter two good at recovering the Polish in the last 40 kilometers and get along well until the finish. At that point, three of them play it out: the Belgian has the best legs, doesn’t make any mistakes and leaves everyone in the bag. Big disappointment Kwiatkowski, probably the strongest of all in a narrow sprint, who also gets everything wrong and doesn’t have the strength to react to the shot of Campenaerts. As soon as he crosses the finish line he allows himself a video call with his partner, just to let her know how wonderful it is to win a stage at Tour, he who had won one at Tour in 2021 in Gorizia.
The “Humans” Tour: Ciccone Takes Another Two Minutes
The group with all the main protagonists of the general classification he reached the finish line with just under 14 minutes delayo. A calm day before the probable storm expected already in tomorrow’s stage, with the arrival at Isola 2000 which could serve to enable Pogacar to deliver yet another knockout blow.
Pogacar who this morning had to defend himself from the accusations of Tom Dumoulin: The former Dutch rider criticised the current yellow jersey for wanting to attack in yesterday’s stage, saying that It made no sense to separate Vingegaard and Evenepoel already being able to count on a reassuring advantage (in fact accusing him of wanting to be a protagonist at all costs). Accusations sent back to the sender, not so much by Thaddeus, as for the fans: if only we had some runners who run without tactics.
Source: sport.virgilio.it
