Tour de France 2026 stage 18 preview - First of three summit finishes to ignite polka dot jersey contest

With just four stages remaining in the 2026 Tour de France and 13 teams still without a stage win, time is running out to chalk up success, but stage 18 from Voiron to Orcières-Merlette could be just the chance these teams are looking for.

With back-to-back stages to Alpe d'Huez on Friday and Saturday, those looking to either challenge Tadej Pogačar for the yellow jersey - or more reasonably, fight his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro for the final podium - might prefer to take a back seat on Thursday's stage.

Instead, expect another frantic scramble to make the day's breakaway to ensue in the early kilometres of the 185-kilometre stage.

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The day begins with a flat 23 kilometres before hitting the Côte d'Engins, a 11.5km climb averaging 5.4% that tops out at kilometre 36.7.

Classified as category 1, this offers 10 points toward the mountains classification, which is still very much up for grabs. Pogačar leads by 24 points over Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), but just six points behind is Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

Carapaz had a terrible start to the Tour and saw his GC ambitions recede in the distance throughout the first two weeks. Lying in 12th over 25 minutes down, the Ecuadorian will have enough free rein to go up the road without resistance from the maillot jaune, as it is doubtful UAE Team Emirates-XRG want to expend energy chasing the classification, especially with Adam Yates on the struggle bus.

Thursday's stage also includes the category 2 Côte de Monteynard (km. 92.2) and Côte des Terrasses (km. 116.3) before the intermediate sprint in Corps with 56km to ride.

There's a remote possibility the green jersey competition might inspire Lidl-Trek or Alpecin-Premier Tech to chase down a breakaway for Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen, respectively. However, the more likely scenario is a relatively small breakaway going clear, with these two sprinting for the remaining points.

The last 50 kilometres are a heavy, gradual slog to the final climb to Orcières-Merlette, which is 7.1-kilometres long and averages 6.7%. The gradients don't necessarily lend themselves to attacks for the general classification, with the steepest pitch coming early at around 8.2% and then a steady slope of 7% to the top.

There are 10 more points at the finish and a handful more along the way. If Paret-Peintre can find good legs for the stage, he could well close the gap to Pogačar in the mountains classification.

The Orcières-Merlette climb was made legendary by Luis Ocaña's imposing solo victory over Eddy Merckx in 1971.

This time look for other climbers like Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) or Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) to take advantage of being far down the Tour de France GC standings, too.

Stage details

• Stage 18: Voiron - Orcières-Merlette
• Date: July 23, 2026
• Distance: 185.2km
• Start time: 12:35 CET
• Finish time: 17:25 CET

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Mountains

• Côte d'Engins (cat. 1, 11.4km at 5.4%), km. 36.7
  • 10-8-6-4-2-1 pts
• Côte de Monteynard (cat. 2, 9.7km at 5%), km. 92.2
  • 5-3-2-1 pts
• Côte des Terrasses (cat. 3, 3.4km at 6.6%), km. 112.8
  • 2-1 pts
• Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes (cat. 3, 2.5km at 6.9%), km. 166.2
  • 2-1 pts
• Orcières-Merlette (cat. 1, 7.1km at 6.7%), km. 185.2
  • 10-8-6-4-2-1 pts

Sprints

• Corps, km. 129
  • 25-20-16-14-12-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 pts

Time limit