Spaniard Take Polka Dot In Stage 18 - Brit Stays In Yellow

The 186.5 kilometer stage 18 was filled with nothing but climb after climb, and two French riders used that to make it a good day for the Tour's home country. The stage winner was Frenchman Romain Bardet. He separated near the top of the unrated col du Glandon and maintained his lead to the finish, beating fellow Frenchman Pierre Rolland by about 33 seconds. Colombian Winner Andrew Anacona Gomez finished in third place, about 59 seconds behind Bardet.

After spending several days holding both the Polka Dot and Yellow jerseys, Christopher Froome of Great Britain lost the Polka Dot jersey in stage 18. He stayed in the Yellow jersey though, as the overall standings were not really affected by this stage.

Stage 19 is shorter (only 138 kilometers) and has only four climbs, but all of those climbs are difficult -- starting with a category 1 climb, then going into a climb too difficult to be rated, then an immediate category 2 climb, and the race finishes at the top of a second category 1 climb.

Here are the standings after stage 18:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)
1. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)
2. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas, Colombia (Movistar)..........3' 10"
3. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte, Spain (Movistar)..........4' 09
4. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........6' 34"
5. Alberto Contador, Spain (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........6' 40"
6. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Lotto NL-Jumbo)..........7' 39"
7. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy (Astana Pro Team)..........8' 04"
8. Frank Mathias, Switzerland (IAM Cycling)..........8' 47"
9. Bauke Mollema, Netherlands (Trek Factory Racing)..........12' 06"
10. Romain Bardet, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........12' 52"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........420 pts
2. Andre Greipel, Germany (Lotto-Soudal)..........316 pts
3. John Degenkolb, Germany (Giant-Alpecin)..........281 pts
4. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........192 pts
5. Bryan Coquard, Francee (Europcar)..........122 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Joachim Rodriguez Oliver, Spain (Team Katusha)..........68 pts
2. Romain Bardet, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........68 pts
3. Jakob Fuglsang, Denmark (Astana Pro Team)..........64 pts
4. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........61 pts
5. Serge Pauwels, Belgium (MTN-Qhubeka)..........55 pts
6. Richie Porte, Australia (Team Sky)..........40 pts 

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Nairo Alenander Quintano Rojas, Columbia (Movistar)
2. Romain Bardet, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........9' 42
3. Warren Barguil, France (Giant-Alpecin)..........9' 58"

TEAM LEADERS
1. Movistar (Spain)
2. MTN-Qhubeka (South Africa)..........36' 23"
3. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........39' 38"
4. Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan)..........46' 31"
5. Tinkoff-Saxo (Russia).........49' 30"