Michal Kwiatkowski and Richard Karapas gave Ineos Grenadiers a morale boost with a very rare "two-up" victory for a single team on stage 18 of cycling's biggest race, the Tour de France.

Kwiatkowski, a former world champion and Milan-San Remo winner, became the first Ineos Grenadiers Tour stage winner since Geraint Thomas in 2018 to earn his first Grand Tour stage victory over Calapaz.

The three-dozen strong group was reduced to four over the Col de Saisies, the third and final mountain stage, and it looked like Kwiatkowski, who had initially done much of the work on the climb for Calapaz, would eventually have to let the Ecuadorian ride up alone.

But after Marc Hirschke (Team Sunweb) crashed on the descent of Saisies and Pero Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren) cracked midway up the Plateau des Glières, the two Ineos Grenadiers moved ahead and opened a significant time gap The two drivers were Had it not been for the mishap, the two would have been in contention for the win.

After a debate before the finish, Karapas gave Kwiatkowski the right to win the stage.

In a lengthy press conference, Kwiatkowski confirmed that such a victory would be especially welcome for the Ineos Grenadiers, especially after their leader Egan Bernal had abandoned. He said that Carapas had told him that he could win and that this victory was dedicated to the late coach Nicholas Portal.

"I can't compare it to any other victory. I've never experienced anything like this," Kwiatkowski said. 'I had goosebumps all the way from the top of the last climb.'

After Bernal was eliminated from GC contention, he said, "We realized how hard we had worked, especially with the change in goals over the last three days.

"It's hard to do that, but we tried. Yesterday [Wednesday] Richard was so close" - he was caught 3 km from the finish line - "and so was Tuesday. Obviously, he knew he was going to get the polka dot jersey. I'll do everything I can for him now. I'll never forget it."

Kwiatkowski was motivated by the fact that this is definitely his last chance to win this year's Tour. True enough, he went into the break one way or another.

However, once he and Calapas were ahead and found themselves in position for a stage win, it became necessary to discuss who would go for the win and how.

French television commentator Laurent Jalabert huffed that the two should have resolved their dilemma in a sprint rather than through conversation. Jalabert had previously handed a stage to German Bert Dietz of a rival team at the 1995 Vuelta a España in the Sierra Nevada.

However, rather than taking orders from team bosses or fighting to the line, as Mapei did in the 1996 Paris-Roubaix, Kwiatkowski was told by Calapas that he would not object to Paul winning the stage if he could go for the mountains prize.

"At the end of the day, I would have liked to discuss it with him over coffee, but it is more chaotic when you are riding at 40-50 km/h and Richard's primary goal was to collect points for the mountains jersey," Kwiatkowski said.

Then Hirschi crashed, further increasing his chances. Richard knew he would take the mountains jersey. "

The back-to-back wins helped salvage the Tour for Ineos Grenadier, but they also showed that the team lineup was solid despite Egan Bernal's abandonment. For Kwiatkowski, it was also a kind of redemption after a disappointing performance in the 2019 Tour de France, and a stage win in the Grand Tour filled a long-vacant gap in his illustrious career. But Kwiatkowski replied that he could not explain what happened to the Colombian last weekend.

"I can't answer that question. I am not a physio or a doctor. I just hope it's nothing serious and that it's just fatigue. If it is, his season is over.

Kwiatkowski, a two-time Strade Bianche winner, rode with Calapaz through the off-road section of the Grier summit. Kwiatkowski did not appreciate the inclusion of such off-roading near the end of the Tour, saying it was too much like a lottery.

"It would be a shame if someone had a mechanical problem at the end of the race," he said. It's not gravel like Strade Bianche, and it's not a good place to attack and run around."

"Most of the guys were trying to play it safe, and from my point of view it would look good in the pictures, but it would be a shame if Richard or I had problems because of that [section]. At the end of the day, we won because we raced hard today."

Kwiatkowski concluded his press conference by elaborating on why he dedicated his victory to Nico Portal. Many people have criticized what we are doing in this Tour and said they missed Nico in the car.

"But whether we succeed or not, we will always remember him. But whether we succeed or not, we will always remember him. He would have enjoyed today, and I think the spirit that we have through the tool is inspired by him. So it's definitely for him."