Friday 21 July 2017 06:30, UK
Chris Froome conceded four seconds to Romain Bardet but passed a huge test in his bid to win a fourth Tour de France in the Alps on Thursday.
Team Sky's Froome crossed the line at the summit of Col d'Izoard in fourth place, with AG2R's Bardet just ahead and picking up four bonus seconds for his third-place finish to close the gap to 23 seconds ahead of Friday's transitional stage.
Although he saw his lead cut, Froome's main goal was to retain yellow on the final summit finish of this year's Tour and he must now defend it over Friday's relatively flat trek to Salon-de-Provence before Saturday's time-trial in Marseille, where he is expected to gain time on his rivals.
"I'm happy to have passed the Alps without problems this year," said Froome. "The Alps are always the toughest for me. Now I'm looking forward to the time-trial in Marseille and we'll see."
Cannondale rider Rigoberto Uran, who began the day alongside Bardet on 27 seconds, never threatened on the climb and lost time in the final sprint to finish a further two seconds back from Froome.
It was a memorable day for Frenchman Warren Barguil however, as he confirmed his King of the Mountains status with victory in the lunar landscape of the Izoard pass.
The Sunweb rider now cannot be caught in the race for the polka dot jersey and just needs to reach Paris safely to confirm his victory.
"I'm just living in my dream at the moment, it's just crazy," said Barguil, who also won the 13th stage on Bastille Day. "After a lot of bad luck I've shown finally my real potential to everybody."
"I'm still in the clouds, I've left the earth. It's an exceptional day, I never imagined I could win on the Izoard."
Others did not fare so well on the hors-categorie climb to the finish line, with Fabio Aru dropped again and conceding over a minute as the Italian, who was in yellow a week ago, slipped to fifth on general classification and almost two minutes adrift of Froome.
Dan Martin was active in forcing the pace on the Izoard, and finished within 19 seconds of Bardet and Froome to retain sixth place overall.
The 179.5km stage from Briancon saw a huge 54-man breakaway go up the road early, but despite a category one climb up Col de Vars, the race did not come to life until did not come to life until the Col d'Izoard, a 14.1km grind at an average gradient of 7.3 per cent.
Aru's Astana team-mate Alexey Lutsenko had a lead of more than four minutes over the yellow jersey group as he started the climb solo before the race was blown to pieces.
With six kilometres to go, Barguil attacked alongside Spanish veteran Alberto Contador and swiftly distanced the main contenders, who were focused on each other.
Team Sky then sent Mikel Landa up the road in a bid to tease Bardet and Uran into a move and although Bardet took the bait, Froome followed him and counter-attacked himself on the short descent at Casse Deserte, two kilometres from the top.
For a moment it appeared the race was over as he swiftly gapped the others, but Bardet and Uran bridged to set up a frantic sprint in the closing, punishing metres, with Bardet timing his attack well to claim third - behind Barguil and Colombian Darwin Atapuma - and the four seconds that moved him into sole possession of second place.
Stage 18 result:
1 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 4:40:33"
2 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates +20"
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
4 Chris Froome (Gbr) Team Sky
5 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac +22"
6 Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky +32"
7 Louis Meintjes (Rsa) UAE Team Emirates +37"
8 Daniel Martin (Ire) Quick-Step Floors +39"
9 Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica-Scott) +59"
10 Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo +1:09"
11 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +1:17"
General Classification:
1 Chris Froome (Gbr) Team Sky 78:08:19"
2 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale +23"
3 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac +29"
4 Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky +1:36"
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team +1:55"
6 Daniel Martin (Ire) Quick-Step Floors +2:56"
7 Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica-Scott +4:46"
8 Louis Meintjes (Rsa) UAE Team Emirates +6:52"
9 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb +8:22"
10 Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo +8:34"
