Ineos Grenadiers Pair Ride to Victory!

I love the competition in sport.  Grit teeth, sweat, blood, determination, and hard work all show on the bodies of elite athletes performing at the pinnacle of their métier.  But every now and then it's great seeing cooperation and teamwork for which the winner isn't important to the participants.  Michał Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz, both of Ineos Grenadiers, dominated today's Stage 18.  They helped each other, and when they had amassed a nearly two-minute lead on third place, they decided to cross the finish line together.  The screen capture I grabbed below was when they knew they had won, and when they knew how they would finish at the line.

Kwiatkowski is on the left, and he would get the stage win, but only by a fraction of a tire's width.  Kwiatkowski has been so helpful to Ineos Grenadiers in this Tour de France, a consummate teammate.  It was nice that he happened to finish first.  Carapaz is 13th in the general classification rankings; Kwiatkowski is 29th.  Below is the screen capture I grabbed a minute later.

They could have hit the 1-km-left red flag and raced each other, but I think what they did was wonderful.  They celebrated the teamwork that went into both of them getting to the finish line before any other cyclist.  A bit more racing at the end would have helped our already great prediction.

• Stage 18:  4h 47' 33" (actual), 4h 42' 38" (prediction), 04' 55" fast (-1.71% error)

That's what I like to see!  Check out the above pair's average speed.

• Stage 18:  10.14 m/s (36.52 kph or 22.69 mph)

Finishing a tough stage like today's in under five hours is quite good.

Tomorrow's 166.5-km (103.5-mi) Stage 19 is listed as flat, but there are several ups and downs that riders will navigate.  Starting in the commune of Bourg-en-Bresse, riders will make their way northeast to Champagnole.  They'll finish in a commune that looks to be about 25 km (16 mi) from the French border with Switzerland.  Our prediction is given below.

• Stage 19:  3h 50' 00" (prediction)

I think the general classification contenders will opt for a safe ride to the finish line tomorrow.  They'll want to be in the best shape possible for the Saturday time trial.  I don't want a repeat of Stage 5!  I want to see several cyclists go for the stage win with lots of attacking.  If a few cyclists go all-out tomorrow, our prediction could be a bit on the slow side.