Stage 18: MÉRIBEL>LA ROCHE-SUR-FORON
32 riders broke away from the peloton as the intermediate sprint was only 14km from the start of the stage. Sam Bennett got the better of Peter Sagan once again.
The sprinters dropped out of the group and off the back on the first climb.
Marc Hirschi and Richard Carapaz sprinted off the front of the pack to take the first two places for KOM points. Hirschi crossed first. The result was the same as they made their way over the third climb of the day. However Hirschi skidded out on the curve on the descent and quickly lost touch with the three men up front. He was unable to regain contact with the leaders of the race.
Approaching the finish line, it was Carapaz and his teammate Michal Kwiatkowski riding together over the line, Kwiatkowski taking the stage win by a tire.
Carapaz takes over as leader in the KOM competition.
