A viral illness has swept through UAE Team Emirates ahead of the Tour de France's decisive mountain stages, with Brandon McNulty abandoning on stage 18 and teammates Adam Yates and Tim Wellens also struggling. Team leader Tadej Pogačar acknowledged the widespread sickness, saying "everyone suffers" and that the squad would miss McNulty over the final days.
Pogačar defended the yellow jersey on stage 18, maintaining a 4 minute 32 second overall lead over Remco Evenepoel, with successive stages arriving at Alpe d'Huez. Expert Emil Axelgaard assessed that Pogačar may abandon controlling the stage on Alpe d'Huez, though he believes the Slovenian's overall victory is not in jeopardy. Stage 18 was won in a solo breakaway by Richard Carapaz, who dedicated the EF team's first stage victory of this Tour to his late mother.
Meanwhile, Mads Pedersen has extended his points classification lead over Jasper Philipsen to 32 points.