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07/23 11:33 CDT Carapaz wins stage 18 of the Tour de France with a late breakaway, Pogacar keeps overall lead Carapaz wins stage 18 of the Tour de France with a late breakaway, Pogacar keeps overall lead ORCIERES-MERLETTE, France (AP) --- Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz timed his attack perfectly in the final climb to win the 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, while Tadej Pogacar finished a few minutes behind and maintained his significant overall lead. It was the 33-year-old Carapaz's first stage win at this year's race and second overall. He was not chased down by Pogacar because he is not considered a threat to win the Tour, and is in 10th spot. After moving ahead about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the summit, Carapaz raced clear. He patted each side of his head as he approached the finish line, and was 45 seconds ahead of Swiss rider Mauro Schmid and American Matteo Jorgenson. Pogacar is chasing a third straight Tour title and fifth overall. The Slovenian star rolled over the line in a large group containing his closest rival Remco Evenepoel and Pogacar's UAE Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro. There was no change overall as Pogacar maintained his lead of 4 minutes, 32 seconds over the Belgian time trial star Evenepoel, the winner of two stages at this year's race, and 6:51 over the 22-year-old Mexican Del Toro in third overall. Thursday's stage was the first of three straight days of Alpine climbs. The 185-kilometer (115-mile) trek featured an early Category 1 climb --- the second-hardest category --- up Cte d'Engins, before ending with a Cat. 1 ascent to the Orcires-Merlette ski station. After going over Engins, Jorgenson was in a small group at the front. They were then joined by Carapaz with Pogacar's yellow jersey group clearly hanging back. Carapaz's stage could have ended when he had a near miss with a fan stood in the road, just swerving around him in time. Heading into the final climb up Orcires-Merlette, Jorgenson and Schmid could not respond when Carapaz attacked.

Tough climbs ahead Friday's 19th stage ends with a HC climb (the hardest category) up L'Alpe d'Huez, an iconic Tour climb and among the most famed in cycling. Saturday's 20th and penultimate stage is brutal and could be epic. It features three HC climbs --- Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Galibier and Col de Sarenne --- and one Cat. 1 climb up Col du Tlgraphe, before a hilly finish to L'Alpe d'Huez. The race ends Sunday on the Champs-lyses in Paris. -__ AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports