Orcières-Merlette is famous in cycling for being the scene of one of the greatest ever victories in the history of the Tour de France, when way back in 1971, Luis Ocaña's stubborn refusal to accept the seemingly perpetual domination of Eddy Merckx finally bore dividends with a spectacular stage win - and the yellow jersey.
It was therefore appropriate somehow that another one of the peloton's non-conformists, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), was also able to triumph at the Alpine ski station, 55 years later, and with another solo attack.
At Le Lioran on stage 9, the Ecuadorian racer had been the one rider willing to try to wreck Tadej Pogacar's chances of victory, attacking on the penultimate climb with a solo move before the Slovenian charged away alone and blasted past.
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Stage 18, though, was another story altogether, with Carapaz determined to make it onto the front on Thursday's rugged approach to the final ascent of Orcières-Merlette in a move that - just like Ocaña's meticulously planned move 55 years ago - was very carefully planned from the outset.
Not only did the 33-year-old manage to achieve his goal of getting in the break, but his blistering series of attacks on the steadily rising last climb also succeeded in sinking the five other riders who stayed away to the finale, netting him the ninth Grand Tour win of his career in the process.
There were notable side benefits, too, to his second Tour stage victory in three years, with Carapaz both edging into the top ten overall and moving up to third overall in the mountains ranking thanks to his triumph.
"I couldn't stop thinking about this stage during the Tour; I felt certain that it was one that suited me, and when I felt I had the legs this morning, I decided to really go for it," he said.
"I knew I could be in the game, so when QuickStep tried to bridge across to an earlier move with three riders, I was ready to go.
"The final climb wasn't great for me, to be honest, but I had the legs, and that was what mattered. From then on, it was just a question of waiting for the right distance."
Unable to race in the Giro d'Italia, his prime objective of 2026, because of an operation on a cyst, Carapaz turned things round in time to go for stage wins in the Tour, with his second place overall in Switzerland behind Pogačar a promising sign.
Third behind Pogačar on Les Angles was another boost to his morale, and so too was eighth at Le Markstein. But clinching his first victory since a Giro stage in 2025 remained an unachieved target - until today.
A repeat of his 2024 assault on the polka-dot jersey is possible, given there are now just seven points between himself and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). But in any case, as he explained afterwards the main goal on Thursday was making the most of one of the last chances for the non-GC contenders to shine.
"There was no pressure, but I knew the next two days will be much harder to succeed, so today was a very important stage for us to try to get the win, and we managed it," Carapaz explained.
"I didn't want to try too hard for the mountain points on the preceding climbs, and the QuickStep rider" - Valentin Paret-Peintre, now second overall in the ranking - "was faster."
"But the real high mountain stages are still to come, and I think Tadej has a lot of points too.
"If I can get the polka-dot jersey, that'd be great, so I will try for it from now on. But today was all about the stage."
Carapaz first tested the waters some 4.4 kilometres from the summit, but even if that move was brought back, it turned out to be a move to test his rivals' strength rather than an all-out assault. That came just a kilometre later, and this time, nobody was able to answer.
"Getting a stage here is very tricky and compared to two years ago when I last won" - at Superdévoluy, not far from Orcières-Merlette, and also the last opportunity in the third week before the final setpiece GC showdown stages - "the terrain was similar, lots of flat in the middle and then some climbs at the end."
"But there was a lot of quality in that final break, Mauro [Schmid] had already won a stage, and I respected them. It was a great day, and our group worked well together. But I had the legs to finish it off."
Having conquered his primary objective, Carapaz will now look, just as he did in 2024, to taking home the mountains jersey for a second time, but he was realistic about his chances of another stage win being very low.
"Today was a breakaway day, and we'll see how UAE play it on the next two stages, as a lot of riders want to win on Alpe d'Huez. I never had that interest in GC; I actually lost time on purpose to have more chance of being in the break, but the mountains jersey is a goal, and we'll see what we can do about that. We'll keep trying."
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