Simon Geschke (Cofidis) cried at the finish after falling from the lead in the mountains classification on stage 18 of the Tour de France.

Stage winner and race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) won the uncategorized mountain to Autacam to take the lead, but Geschke will go down in history as the German who spent the most days in the polka-dot jersey, nine.

With only three points to the finish in Paris, it will be impossible for Cofidis to regain the polka-dot jersey.

Geschke attacked repeatedly in an attempt to set up a breakaway in the first 58km of the flat 143.2km stage from Lourdes, but missed the escape on the Aubisque, Spandel, and Autacam climbs, missing out on the chance to score more points.

"The early part of the stage was particularly stressful. I spent a lot of energy trying to get into the right breakaway group." On the approach to Aubisque I tried to get close to the breakaway group, but it didn't work out.

"I knew I had to take points in Aubisque. From the moment I couldn't do that, I knew it was impossible to keep the jersey. Now I'm second in the mountains and that's not bad. The polka-dot jersey is worn by the best climbers in the Tour de France, and the most deserving are wearing it right now."

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) took points on the first mountainous course, the Col d'Aubisque, as he had several teammates in the breakaway.

However, a fierce competition between Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and Vingegaard on the category 1 Spandale pass and the final Autacam pass saw Vingegaard take the jersey with 20 points.

"The effort was lethal, but we gave it everything we had in the group," said Bingen Fernandez, Director Sportif of Cofidis.

"We knew that if we didn't score points in Aubisque, we risked losing the jersey.

"Facing such strong opposition, the polka-dot jersey went to Jonas Vingegaard. It is a great honor to finish second behind the yellow jersey in this best climber award."