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Tied at the finish line: Michal Kwiatkowski (right) and Richard Carapaz on the 18th stage
Photo: STEPHANE MAHE / AFP
Michal Kwiatkowski won the last Alpine stage of the 107th Tour de France.
After 175 kilometers from Méribel to La Roche-sur-Foron, the 30-year-old Pole won ahead of his Ineos team-mate Richard Carapaz.
Both rolled to the finish line together in the last few meters.
The Ecuadorian Carapaz took over the jersey of the best climber.
"This is one of those days when you can hardly express your thanks. I have certainly had a few nice moments in cycling, but this is a new experience, said day winner Kwiatkowski:" We just had the best legs today.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) from Slovenia successfully defended the yellow jersey of the overall winner.
The Vuelta winner is 57 seconds ahead of his compatriot Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).
It goes on without Greipel
Old star André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation), who left shortly after the start of the stage, is no longer there.
The 38-year-old sprinter fell out of the peloton on the first climb of the day and then finished the race.
The day before he had just stayed within the time limit on the queen's stage.
On the 19th stage, the sprinters could have another chance.
The 166.5-kilometer section from Bourg-en-Bresse to Champagnole has only one mountain in the fourth category, but it often goes up and down.
The sprinter teams have to make an effort.
For the Ineos team, the victory of the day and the mountain jersey for Carapaz were only a consolation prize.
The British star selection, which has a budget of around 40 million euros, wanted to win the tour with Egan Bernal.
However, the Colombian had not started on Wednesday after a long gap to the king's stage.
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jan / dpa