Today was the last day for the climbers. Stage 18 of the Tour de France, took the riders through the legendary Col du Tourmalet before the iconic mountain top finish at Luz Ardiden, was the last chance for David Gaudu to win the stage. It wasn't it to be. Winner of the combativity prize and a strong eleventh overall. Top Frenchman, Guillaume Martin, consolidated his place in the top-10 in GC with a solid 8th place.
"I had this plan in mind since the evening of the Ventoux stage. We clearly wanted to make a coup in the Tourmalet. I knew we had to attack from far to beat the main favourites. We did what we had to do with Valentin (Madouas). Unfortunately, there was a bit of headwind at the end of the descent, which took it's toll on me with Ineos pulling in the back for the stage victory.
"We have nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe I would have been fifth if I had stayed with the favourites, but today I preferred to go all-in than finish fifth."
-David Gaudu
"David is finishing this Tour very strong, both physically and mentally. We obviously have some regrets because it hasn't gone well for us since the start of the race. However, even being down to four, the guys got back on track, stayed united and did not go down. On the contrary. And I really liked it."
-Marc Madiot. DS Groupama FDJ
"It was the last mountain stage and as expected it was brutal and very eventful. It didn't stop all day with the battles for the different distinctive jerseys. Luckily I had good legs today. I passed the Col du Tourmalet quite comfortably and in the final climb, I still had good feelings. The tempo was really high so there was not much to do other than to follow. The top-10 seems rather assured. It is a satisfaction and it marks a progression in my career. I came for a stage, I tried to go in the breakaways and finally I'm going to look for this top-10 that has been denied to me since the start of my career. It's a real satisfaction!"
-Guillaume Martin. Cofidis, 8th place.
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