Richard Carapaz flew to victory on Stage 18 of the Tour de France with a stunning solo attack up the climb to Orcières-Merlette.

Richie's win closed out an incredible performance from our squad on the Tour's first Alpine stage. Kasper Asgreen, Michael Valgren, Ben Healy, Alex Baudin, Georg Steinhauser, Sean Quinn, and Max Walker each made huge efforts to get Richie into the winning break. They rode their hearts out to help Richie get this win. They have ridden with the same spirit and commitment from the moment the Tour started almost three weeks ago in Barcelona. This win is theirs as well. It is also a reward for the entire EF Pro Cycling organization and our partners – all of the people who have been working for months to get our squad to the Tour with the best equipment in the best possible form. The staff here on the ground have been working day and night at this Tour de France. The team never lost hope or belief in the guys, because they raced in true EF Pro Cycling form. To the regiment!

"It's been a very special moment to win here at the Tour. It's something that you have to put absolutely everything into. I want to dedicate it to my family. This is the most important thing to me. It's incredible to win Stage 18. It was tricky. It was a very, very tough day. I was ready to jump across – and worry when there was a gap, but I managed to bridge with three riders and I was able to jump into the first group. It was a really tough climb. I waited for the right moment, and in the end, it just happened to be at the right time. It's really difficult to win at the Tour. We knew what we were coming here for. We did what we had to do and today ended up being the special day. And we ultimately managed to accomplish what we had wanted for the last couple of weeks. We are really happy." – Richard Carapaz

"This win means everything, obviously for Richie, but for the whole team – we've been fighting since Barcelona as a team. That was basically the goal of this Tour: to race as a team, because we thought that was what would move the needle to win a stage. And today I think we showed what a team we are. We're just amazing. Kasper, Max, and Georg were animating for the first 25 kilometers before the first climb, and then the break went just after, over the top of the climb actually. Then I was pulling on that false flat for seven or eight minutes to keep the gap close enough. Ben attacked, and on the descent Ben went again, and we tried to always keep it going – we were all in the attacks behind, keeping the race open. Then just when we thought maybe now it's closed, Ben went again. And then Quick-Step attacked with Paret-Peintre and Richie was smart and went with him. The rest is history – it was just a brilliant show." – Michael Valgren

"It's a relief for the team. When I heard on the radio that Richie was alone, it gave me extra motivation to get to the top. I was super happy. It's really nice for the team – I'm really happy. We missed an important move, so we had to pull to reopen the race, and he made it into the break. Then we were in a counterattack with Michael and Ben, and we had to cover a move to protect him. And then he won – he did it by himself today. He had crazy legs." – Alex Baudin

"Today was intense. This one was a slow burn – over the days of racing, but also across the whole stage. It was a constant battle against all the teams and everything. There was so much going on. It was intense.

"We had an X on our backs from the start, because we're the best team in the world at this. On top of that, there was the KOM competition, so there was a lot going on on the first climb, and then 10 really good riders clipped off. We didn't have anything left to pull with. Everybody was following us. I think a lot of people would have given up, but we didn't – we reshuffled it and reshuffled it and kept going.

"We ended up with Ben and Richie in front, three riders behind them basically defending everything he did. But then there was a lot of so-called flat road, with weaker climbers than him constantly trying to get away, creating splits in the group. It was incredibly complex, and hard physically but also tactically. We played it right, and it worked out.

"Richie has a super good racing instinct. A couple of times we nearly got caught out, but he had the legs to fix it. And right until the bottom of the last climb, everybody was obviously afraid of him on the climb, so it went right to the line – and luckily he had enough left, and the class to finish it off.

"He went one time and Paret-Peintre followed him, and we told him from the car that we thought he was on his limit. So he went one more time, super hard, and he made the gap.

"It's a massive relief. For me, the best thing about these days is coming back to the hotel and seeing how much it means to everybody who works behind the scenes, because there are hundreds and hundreds of hours that go into every hour the riders race. And when you see people who spend 200 days a year away from their families – so happy that we did this together – it's just the coolest thing." – Charly Wegelius, sports director

Richie's normalized power for his winning ride was 332 watts for four hours and 28 minutes. His one-minute peak power was 568 watts and five-minute max was 438 watts.

We toasted Richie's win tonight at a classic French chain restaurant. Buffalo Grill is an industrial park staple across France. It's France's idea of Americana, complete with totem poles, saloon doors, and burgers avec fromage. French burgers and fries tasted great with Champagne tonight.

Seventeen grand tours in, Owen is well practiced at opening Champagne. There have been some favorite wins – Rigo at the Vuelta, Ben's yellow jersey, Valgren winning this spring at the Giro – but today's might take the cake. These are Owen's tips for how to open a bottle of Champagne.

How to open a bottle of Champagne

Point the bottle away from yourself and others, remove the foil and wire cage while keeping a thumb over the cork, then grip the cork firmly and twist the bottle (not the cork) slowly while holding the cork steady – this builds controlled pressure release. Ease it out until it slips free with a soft hiss rather than a loud pop, keeping the cork angled away the whole time. Have a glass ready to catch any overflow.

Chill the bottle first – cold Champagne is less prone to gushing.

The roots of the word victory are found in the Latin vincere, meaning to conquer or defeat. Victoria was a Roman goddess, inspired by the Greek Nike, who would fly down from the heavens to crown victors with a palm branch or laurel wreath. She was with Richie in spirit when he took off up Orcières-Merlette.