Colombian Darwin Atapuma produces inspiring ride, winning the red bib

UAE Team Emirates’ Darwin Atapuma produced one of the most inspiring rides of the Tour to date, as the Colombian finished second on stage 18, earning the red bib for his efforts as the most aggressive rider.

With less than 2km to go on today’s Hors Category (HC) finish in Col d’Izoard, it looked as though Atapuma was going to win the race. But the UAE Team Emirates rider succumbed to late pressure from eventual winner, Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb).

There was also a top 10 finish for UAE Team Emirates’ General Classification contender, Louis Meintjes, who finished seventh, 37 seconds behind Barguil. Chris Froome (Team Sky) holds on to the Yellow Jersey, with Meintjes still sitting second in the hunt for the White Jersey behind Simon Yates (ORICA-Scott).

Commenting on his the team’s performance, Louis Meintjes said: “It was a really good day for the team with five in the break-away and we got second place which is good.”  

Commenting on his second place finish, Darwin Atapuma said; “Today we prepared the stage very well and I think we did a great job. It is a shame we did not take the win, but to get second place, it really means a lot to me. It is almost like a victory.”

Barring the ritual of recent years, stage 19 heads out of the mountains and towards the Provence region. At 222.5km, this stage is Le Tour’s longest passing from Embrun to Salon-en-Provence. This stage may not cause much of a change within the General Classification standings, as the riders prepare themselves for the following days’ time trial.