Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) produced a fine performance to take victory on Stage 18 of the Tour de France, conquering the Col du Galibier and descending in style into Valloire, 1'37" ahead of second placed Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) at the finish. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) was third, 2’28” down on Quintana.

The result comes exactly 365 days after Quintana won on Col du Portet in last year’s Tour and moves him up to seventh in the GC after the first day of three in the Alps. The Yellow Jersey stays with Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) who temporarily lost contact with the main GC group on the Galibier climb, but then brilliantly chased them down on the final descent.

Alaphilippe did lose 32 seconds overall to Egan Bernal (Team INEOS), who finished eighth in the stage and moves up to second place in the GC, 1’30” behind the Frenchman.