Ben O'Connor stormed to a sensational victory in Stage 18 of the Tour de France on Thursday, as Jonas Vingegaard's attempt to dethrone Tadej Pogacar imploded in spectacular fashion on the race's most brutal Alpine battleground.

Jonas Vingegaard remains adamant that he is still in with a chance of beating Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar despite losing a further nine seconds to the UAE Team Emirates-XRG racer in the closing metres of the brutally difficult Col de la Loze ascent on stage 18 on Thursday.

Ben O’Connor conquered Stage 18 of the Tour de France, soloing to a superb win after breaking clear with 16km to go, but all eyes were on the battle behind. Tadej Pogacar delivered a hammer blow to rival Jonas Vingegaard on the Col de la Loze,

Analysis of the latest day's action in the 2025 race - 171km from Montpellier up to the summit of the iconic Mont Ventoux

Jonas Vingegaard loses back wheel of race leader near top of final hors categorie climb and relinquishes more time

Brent Bookwalter and Tejay Van Garderen look ahead to Stage 18 of the 2025 Tour de France, where Tadej Pogacar will look to avoid a repeat of 2023 Stage 17 and stave off Jonas Vingegaard in a climb-heavy day.