Tour de France wrap after stage 18

He might have lost time, but Chris Froome looked like the big winner atop the Col d’Izoard on Thursday night.

Romain Bardet snatched back four seconds but Froome emerged from the final mountain test of the Tour still in yellow, and still with the Marseille time trial trump card to play.

Warren Barguil took stage honours for the second time in this Tour on the day that he also effectively sealed victory in the king of the mountains classification – even accepting a handshake from rival Thomas De Gendt at the foot of the Izoard. Barguil only needs to make it to Paris safely to keep the polka dot jersey.

Magic in the room

Room-mates Barguil and Michael Matthews both came to the Tour not sure what to accept. Barguil has endured a miserable run of injuries over the past 18 months and had to put previous notions of contending for yellow to one side. Matthews always wanted the green jersey but expected to face an uphill battle against Peter Sagan. But with Paris almost coming in to view, Barguil has two stage wins and the polka dot jersey on his back, while Matthews is in green with two stages of his own. “It’s truly incredible, for Warren and for the team,” said Matthews, who got a little kiss from his room-mate after the stage. “Now four stage wins in this Tour de France, and I think we just sealed both jerseys. So in one bedroom in our hotel we have four stage wins and two jerseys in the one room. It’s just such a compliment to all the hard work this team has done, and they deserve every bit of it. We’ve worked so hard for this, and now for it all to come true, all our dreams to come true in this one Tour de France, it’s really special.”

Attack mode activated

Dan Martin has not known when to stop in this Tour. The Irishman is on track for his highest-ever finish as he sits sixth overall, despite battling illness and injury along the way. Two days after shaking off a bug, he was back on the attack on the Izoard, even though he would give up 19 seconds to Froome by the summit. And according to Quick-Step Floors sports director Brian Holm, it is all entirely his own doing. “To be honest, we don’t need to speak to Dan Martin, his own mind set is attacking,” he said. “Nobody has to tell him in the radio. Sometimes he breaks his neck, sometimes he acts silly but I love the way he does it. He goes, he goes, he goes.”

Tweet of the day

Quote of the day

“If everything goes well, I would fancy my chances in the time trial against the other guys, but anything could happen still” – Froome is closing in on his fourth Tour de France title.