Geraint Thomas retains yellow ahead of Chris Froome as GC contenders cross the line together at Col du Portet.
Tuesday 24 July 2018 18:45, UK
Julian Alaphilippe followed up his win in the Alps with victory on the first trip into the Pyrenees after a dramatic stage 16 of the Tour de France.
The Quick-Step Floors rider was allowed to enjoy the final kilometres of the race after Adam Yates crashed while leading on the descent into Bagneres-de-Luchon.
Mitchelton-Scott's Yates had crested the summit of the Col du Portillon with a lead of 22 seconds over Alaphilippe after attacking the remnants of the breakaway three kilometres from the summit.
But on the long descent into town he went down on a corner, 6.5 kilometres from the finish line, allowing Alaphilippe to zip by and take the win.
Yates followed home Bahrain-Merida's Gorka Izagirre to finish third, his best finish in a Tour de France stage.
The main contenders then crossed the line in a group some nine minutes after Alaphilippe to mean there is no change at the top of the general classification.
Team Sky's Geraint Thomas continues to lead by one minute and 39 seconds from team-mate Chris Froome, with Team Sunweb's Tom Dumoulin a further 11 seconds behind.
It was a dramatic end to a stage which had been stopped at one point as riders were affected by a spray used by police to break up a farmers' protest on the road from Carcassonne.
The protestors had rolled large hay bales into the road 29 kilometres into the 218km stage, and then clashed with police who tried to remove them.
After a spray was used by officers, it appeared to get into the eyes of several riders, with Thomas and Froome affected.
The race was stopped completely while they received medical attention and washed their eyes. After a 15-minute interval, the race resumed with a short neutralised section before the flag was dropped once again 33km into the stage.
Yates was not the only rider to crash. Philippe Gilbert suffered a horrible fall on the descent of Col de Portet-d'Aspet after misjudging a corner and disappearing over a small wall.
He emerged, bloodied, to take his seat back on the bike, but having crested the summit in first, it ended the Quick-Step rider's involvement at the sharp end of the race.
"I'm delighted," said Alaphilippe after soaking up his win. "It was really hard to get into the early breakaway and the rest of the day I was suffering. The pace was really fast the whole day. But it's fantastic. I'm really happy."
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 5:13:22
2 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida +15s
3 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott same time
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo same time
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida +18s
6 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo +37s
7 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team +56s
8 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe same time
9 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team +1:10
10 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale +1:18
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 68:12:01
2 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky +1:39
3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb +1:50
4 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo +2:38
5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale +3:21
6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team +3:42
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo +3:57
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +4:23
9 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team +6:14
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates +6:54
