French & U.S. Riders Battle To Win Stage 18

The difficult climbs of stage 18 of the 100th Tour de France provided the background for a French and an American rider to shine. Both led the race for quite a while, and it looked like either could win -- bit only 2 kilometers from the finish, the French rider was able to give one last push, and the American was unable to match it (finishing 59 seconds back). An Italian rider then finished in third -- 28 seconds behind the American.

Yellow Jersey wearer Christopher Froome was not able to keep up with those riders, but neither were his closest competitors. So he finished the day still in first place, and in fact added about 40 seconds to his overall lead. There are two more tough mountain stages left, and then the rather easy ride into Paris on Sunday (which is the final stage of this year's race). Here are the stage 18 top finishers and the current standings:

STAGE 18 TOP FINISHERS
1. Christophe Riblon (France) AG2R La Mondiale
2. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing
3. Moreno Moser (Italy) Cannondale

YELLOW JERSEY (Best Overall Time)
1. Christopher Froome (Great Britain) Sky Procycling
2. Alberto Contador (Spain) Saxo-Tinkoff..........5' 11"
3. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Columbia) Movistar..........5' 32"
4. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic) Saxo-Tinkoff..........5' 44"
5. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spain) Katusha..........5' 58"
6. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........8' 58"
7. Jakon Fuglsang (Denmark) Astana..........9' 33"
8. Michael Rogers (Australia) Saxo-Tinkoff..........14' 26"
9. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........14' 38"
10. Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........14' 39"
11. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar..........14' 56"
12. Andrew Talansky (United States) Garmin-Sharp..........16' 24"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Cannondale..........380 pts
2. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........278 pts
3. Andre Greipel (Germany) Lotto-Belisol..........227 pts
4. Marcel Kittel (Germany) Argos-Shimano..........177 pts
5. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) Katusha..........157 pts
6. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spain) Movistar..........145 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Christopher Froome (Great Britain) Sky Procycling..........104 pts
2. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Columbia) Movistar..........97 pts
3. Christophe Riblon (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........77 pts
4. Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spain) Euskaltel-Euskadi..........63 pts
5. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing..........62 pts
6. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spain) Katusha..........59 pts
7. Moreno Moser (Italy) Cannondale..........58 pts

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Columbia) Movistar
2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........9' 06"
3. Andrew Talansky (United States) Garmin-Sharp..........10' 52"
4. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........25' 13"
5. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing..........1h 01' 50"

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Saxo-Tinkoff (Denmark)
2. AG2R La Mondiale (France)..........6' 05"
3. Radioshack Leopard (Luxembourg)..........12' 29"
4. Movistar (Spain)..........24' 33"
5. Belkin Pro Cycling (Netherlands)..........28' 37"
6. Katusha (Russia)..........48' 06"
7. BMC Racing (United States)..........1h 08' 40"
8. Garmin-Sharp (United States)..........1h 08' 55"
9. Omega Pharma-Quick Step (Belgium)..........1h 15' 49"
10. Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain)..........1h 20' 35"