Victor Kampenaerts is one of the most engaging storytellers in the peloton, and his storytelling extends to social media, where his offbeat video diary with Lotto Dostony's roommate, Jasper de Buist, has gained a cult following at this Tour de France.

As his two European time trial titles and a stage win at the Giro d'Italia attest, the former Hour Record holder is of course expressive on the bike. On stage 18, he showed his strength by playing a key role in helping a breakaway group fend off sprinters in Bourg-en-Bresse.

Campenaerts spent most of the finale sacrificing himself in favor of teammate Pascal Enckhorn. In the end, Enckhorn settled for second place behind winner Kasper Asgreen (Sourdal-Quick Step), but Campenaerts took satisfaction in the role he played in helping the escape group break away from the pack.

The Belgian explained after the stage that the stage went according to plan for Lotto Doustony.

"On the bus, I had a clear plan. I had to be in the breakaway today and there was no other option," Campenaerts said. If it was a breakaway of 10 riders, they would do everything they could for me, but if it was less than four, we said it would be a very simple strategy, like sending someone in mid-stage."

Easier said than done, but Lotto Doustony succeeded, and the leading trio's advantage never exceeded 1:48. With 65km to go, Eenkhorn attacked from the peloton, despite the obvious disappointment of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Desseuninck).

Meanwhile, up front, Campenaerts fell back as his teammate picked up the pace. 'From this moment on we picked up the pace and it worked very well,' he said."

In the final hour of the race, sprinter teams including Alpecin Deceuninck, Jayco Arla, and Lidl-Trek tried to reel in the breakaway. The flat terrain, open roads, and headwind did little to help their cause, but they resolutely carried out their mission.

With 20 km to go, the gap was 40 seconds. With 10 km to go, the gap was down to 20 seconds, but they persisted. Asgreen's Sowdall-Quickstep teammates occasionally interfered with the chase behind them, but the work of the escapees still looked hopeless.

"The peloton was pretty fast, and on paper it was a 100% sprint stage with big roads and headwinds.

"What was I thinking? With 10km to go, it was clear that I would have to fight until the last meter to stay in front, so from this moment on I told Pascal, 'I have to sprint. I felt Abrahamsen and Kasper also had a good pull and they never skipped. We had two riders, so we had to be responsible for the run."

About 1,500 meters from the finish, Kampenaerts made a long final turn at the front, hoping to lead out to the Eenkhorn. This effort probably would have allowed him to break away from the pack, but Campenaerts admitted to his teammates that he was unable to tee up as planned.

"I knew I wanted a fast sprint for Pascal, so I tried to lead from a distance, but with 500m to go I got a little cramp and it ended up being a slow sprint. But thanks to Kasper, I was able to sprint fast and he was able to sprint fast. He is a very strong rider and strong because he is the winner of the Tour de Flanders. Of course he tried to win, but he came in second. That's the story today."

Not quite. Kampenaerts found out at the finish that he was voted the most combative athlete of the day. He did not finish the day empty-handed. It's never easy to be on the podium of the Tour de France," he said, but this was no time for modesty. But this is no time for modesty. I just think if another racer got on the podium, I'd be ......."