Tour de France verdict: Michal Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz's arm-in-arm finish was...

[ASFN Admin]

If this was Ineos sticking two fingers up at their doubters, it could not have been more emphatic or more timely. A day that began with further questioning of their performance at this Tour de France - Sir Bradley Wiggins suggesting that “all was not well” at his former team - ended with Michal Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz delivering a superb one-two on stage 18 from Meribel to La Roche-sur-Foron. The duo, who rode clear of the day’s breakaway to win by almost two minutes, ended up crossing the line arm-in-arm rather than duking it out for the win. Their peace pact denied fans the chance to see a rarity in cycling; a two-up sprint between team-mates. But it was somehow appropriate that in a week in which Ineos lost their leader, Egan Bernal, and copped an unholy amount of flak over team selection and tactics, two of their riders should cross the line together, showing unity. To cap a redemptive day for the British outfit, Carapaz is now in possession of the polka dots jersey. It was in fact Kwiatkowski who was awarded the stage victory in the end, Carapaz braking ever so slightly before the line to allow the Pole to ‘win’ by a tyre width. But that, too, was fitting. Not only had Kwiatkowski pulled Carapaz up most of the day’s climbs, helping him into the lead of the mountains classification, the 30-year-old has sacrificed individual glory for a succession of Ineos leaders - Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Bernal. He fully deserved this moment in the sun. Stage 18: as it happened Incredibly, given his palmares, which includes a world road race title from 2014 and a Milan-San Remo crown from 2017, it was Kwiatkowski's first ever individual grand tour stage win. He was surprisingly emotional afterwards, opening up on a variety of subjects in what was probably the outstanding press conference of this Tour so far. “I hope he enjoyed watching that at home,” Kwiatkowski remarked of Bernal, before dedicating the win to former sporting director Nicolas Portal, who died earlier this year. "I know that he would have enjoyed that today, especially. I think the spirit that we had through the Tour, it’s... we’re inspired by him. So definitely it’s for him, thank you."

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