Tour de France 2019: Stage 16

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Pinot pointed towards Tour de France podium
Dan Martin: The person whose bad day is the least bad will win
Alaphilippe: I don't want to dream about Tour de France glory
Quintana: I told the team I was in difficulty before the Tourmalet
Bardet to ring changes in 2020 after Tour de France challenge runs aground

The temperature is a balmy 35 degrees Celsius in Nîmes as the peloton assembles for stage 16 of the Tour de France. Today's stage is a largely flat 177km trek northwards towards Ales and then back to the finish in Nîmes via Uzes. It's a day that ought to give the sprinters one final opportunity before Paris. The GC men, meanwhile, will hope for a degree of calm before the impending storm in the Alps. This is an area often buffeted by wind, but for the time being, the breeze out on the course is a relatively gentle 13kph.

The general classification situation as the Tour resumes after its second rest day is as follows:

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 61:00:22
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:35
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:47
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:50
5 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 0:02:02
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:14
7 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:54
8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:00
9 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:05:27
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:05:33
11 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:30
12 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:07:22
13 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:08:28
14 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data 0:11:04
15 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:39
16 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:13:42
17 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:15
18 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:14:31
19 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:27:12
20 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:28:25

The peloton will roll out at 13.20 local time before hitting kilometre zero at 13.30. There is one category 4 climb on the agenda, the Cote de Saint-Jean-du-Pin after 96km.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was the strongest man in the Pyrenees, but, like Sean Kelly in the 1980s, extreme heat has been his kryptonite in Tours past. "The heat isn’t a problem for me on flat stages as you’re going quick and you get a lot of breeze," Pinot said at the start. "On the cols it can be a problem for me but not today."

The peloton is ambling through the neutralised zone ahead of the official start of stage 16.

The Tour’s last visit to Nîmes – the city with an accent, per the tourist board leaflets – was in 2014, when Alexander Kristoff took the spoils in a sprint. The enduring image of that day, however, was of a distraught Jack Bauer slumped against a barrier after the finish. The New Zealander was on the offensive for 222km but was caught and passed by the sprinters in the finishing straight. Read Stephen Farrand's account of that moment here.

The bunch is through kilometre zero but Christian Prudhomme has yet to wave the flag. It seems the delay is because Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) suffered a mechanical issue in the neutralised zone.

174km remaining from 177km

The flag is dropped and finally the stage is underway. There are a couple of early accelerations, and it may be that we have some manner of contest to enter the early break this afternoon.

172km remaining from 177km

Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) and Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) have established a small lead over the peloton, but there are more riders trying to get across.

Łukasz Wiśniowski (CCC Team), Paul Ourselin (Total Direct Energie) and Lars Bak (Dimension Data) are chasing across to the two leaders. Back in the peloton, Lotto Soudal and Deceuninck-QuickStep have spread across the road and slowed the pace considerably. It looks as though our break is establishing itself.

169km remaining from 177km

There are five riders in front, with a lead of 48 seconds over the peloton: Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis), Łukasz Wiśniowski (CCC Team), Paul Ourselin (Total Direct Energie) and Lars Bak (Dimension Data).

Geraint Thomas (Ineos) suffered a mechanical problem, but the Welshman has been paced back to the peloton by Michal Kwiatkowski.

164km remaining from 177km

Our five leaders have stretched their buffer out to 1:10, and the day has settled quickly into a discernible pattern. It remains to be seen, however, if the wind picks up sufficiently to cause some late and telling deviations from the preordained script.

At the start, Geraint Thomas said that caution was the order of the day. "The main thing is to keep riding as we have been really: attentive and at the front, ready for anything," he said. "It’s just about being there and ready for anything. Normally you’d say it would be a sprint day, but on this race, you just never know."

There is one non-starter to report today. Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) left the Tour with a back injury during Monday's rest day.

157km remaining from 177km

The break's lead edges up to 1:34. The thermometer, meanwhile, has hit 39°C. The canicule is making its presence felt on this Tour.

UAE Team Emirates, Lotto-Soudal and Jumbo-Visma are setting a steady tempo at the head of the peloton and have shaved the break's lead back down to 1:15. The escapees, meanwhile, are now riding in the shadow of the mighty Pont du Gard.

The pelotn is now on the normally pedestrianised bridge that runs alongside the lower tier of the Roman aqueduct, which was constructed in the first century AD.

152km remaining from 177km

The five leaders haven't been permitted to extend their buffer, which now stands at just over one minute.

Yesterday, Movistar had Mikel Landa, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde meet the press separately, with each man giving his own account of the team's bizarre tactical approach to Saturday's stage 14. Alasdair Fotheringham has the gospels according to Quintana and Valverde here, and a reading from the book of Landa here. This morning, the telecommunications company scrambled to have their riders ham up a show of unity for this video posted to social media, complete with Landa massaging Quintana's legs. 

145km remaining from 177km

The stage ambles onwards with the break 1:38 up on the bunch. Despite the air of detente, it's notable that the GC contenders are all massed towards the head of the peloton and surrounded by teammates. The harsh lessons of stage 10 to Albi are still reverberating for Pinot et al.

Julian Alaphilippe betrayed his first signs on weakness on the final haul to Prat d'Albis on Sunday, but the Frenchman remains in the maillot jaune with a lead of 1:35 over Geraint Thomas. "We have hope. I'm aware that it will be difficult," Alaphilippe said yesterday. "It's not a surprise I'm starting to struggle. I haven't lost form today, I have just lost a bit of time. I didn't have the ambition to win the Tour and today nothing changes for me." Patrick Fletcher has more here.

140km remaining from 177km

Gougeard, Rossetto, Wisniowski, Ourselin and Bak have stretched their lead out to 2 minutes for the first time. 

In the first hour of racing, the escapees have covered some 46 kilometres.

131km remaining from 177km

Geraint Thomas (Ineos) is a faller in the main body of the peloton as they slowly take a right-hand bend. The Welshman was the only rider to come down, but it doesn't appear that he has picked up any injury, just annoyance. He gets a bike change and begins to chase back on without any undue distress.

Dylan van Baarle is helping to pace Thomas, who appears to have grazes on his left knee and elbow, but does not appear to be in any pain. It's not clear how Thomas fell, but he is pedalling smoothly as he makes his way through the convoy.

This was Thomas' third crash of the Tour, following his  fall on the opening stage in Brussels and another incident on the road to Saint-Etienne on stage 8.

125km remaining from 177km

Thomas has safely rejoined the peloton after a chase of 4 kilometres or so. The break's lead, meanwhile, has dropped again to 1:26.

There were similarly soaring temperatures when the Tour visited Nîmes in 1950 on a day that has entered into the folklore of the race. Riding for the North African team, Marcel Molinès made history by becoming the first ever African stage winner, but that notable feat was overshadowed by the fate of his teammate and breakaway companion Abdel-Kader Zaaf, who collapsed unconscious beneath a tree and then reportedly attempted to ride off the wrong direction on coming to. The (almost certainly false) story that passed into lore was that the teetotal Zaaf’s collapse was triggered by taking wine from a spectator. Raphael Geminiani was among those to suggest amphetamine use was the real culprit in an era before doping was recognised as such. The North African squad triumphed again in Touloun a day later through Custodio Dos Reis. You can read a full account of the North African team of the 1950 Tour here.

120km remaining from 177km

The five escapees are still collaborating smoothly at the head of the race, but they haven't been granted much leeway by the sprinters' teams this afternoon. 1:35 the gap.

115km remaining from 177km

Lotto Soudal, Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emiratesd continue to share the pace-making duties at the head of the peloton. They are 1:20 down on the break.

We should start to see Peter Sagan moving up through the peloton as we approach the day's intermediate sprint in Vallérargues. The Slovak has a 93-point lead over Sonny Colbrelli in the points classification as he closes in on a record 7th victory.

Ineos directeur sportif Servais Knaven has told Eurosport that Thomas did not sustain any lasting injury in his crash: "All is good, we just had a look on his injuries and all is fine."

112km remaining from 177km

Lars Bak leads the break through the sprint. Meanwhile, Elia Viviani wins the sprint for 6th ahead of Michael Morkov, Sonny Colbrelli and an only half-bothered Sagan, who seems content to keep his points tally ticking over without expending unnecessary energy ahead of the finale.

109km remaining from 177km

Tour debutant Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) has been an aggressive presence on this race, and the Frenchman is contributing generously to the break once again this afternoon. It seems difficult to imagine they will go the distance, mind, given the peloton's reluctance to give them any sort of a head start.

107km remaining from 177km

Laura Weislo has put together this excellent graphic representation of the evolution of the overall standings on this Tour. It shows just how Thomas, Pinot, Bernal, Kruijswijk and Buchmann have held firm while men like Romain Bardet and Nairo Quintana have slid out of contention. There will be plenty of movement on that graph in the days ahead, but it remains to be seen if this afternoon's tense run-in will provoke any differences between the GC men.

Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) and Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal) have been prominent in setting the tempo at the head of the bunch, which is 1:10 behind the leading quintet. Jumbo-Visma are massed towards the front around Steven Kruijswijk, with Ineos, Groupama-FDJ and Movistar in line behind them.

97km remaining from 177km

Into the final 100 kilometres for the five escapees, who have 1:23 in hand on the chasing peloton. They are on the approach to the feed zone in Célas.

91km remaining from 177km

Alexis Gougeard drops back to his team car, accepts a large chunk of ice and places in on the nape of his neck. It's that kind of day, with the temperatures in the high 30s.

Dan Martin's GC challenge suffered in the Pyrenees, but he will hope to put a different slant on his Tour in the Alps this week. Stephen Farrand caught up with Martin on the rest day, and the Irishman ran the rule over the remainder of this Tour. "It's funny how one day can change the outlook of this year's race. After the Tourmalet people were saying how Julian could keep the jersey till Paris but then he lost time and suddenly the bets are off. But maybe Sunday was his bad day. Who really knows?" Martin said. "We'll find out in the Alps. The last stage ends with a 34km long climb! We don't ever race long, long climbs like that. And it's after the high altitude of the Col de I'Iseran the day before too. When you think of high altitude, one name comes up: Egan Bernal." Read the full story here.

86km remaining from 177km

The television camera lingers on a group of enthusiastic young Alaphilippe supporters, who holler Allez Julian! at the passing peloton. At the start this morning, meanwhile, Patrick Fletcher captured this image of an equally fervent young Thibaut Pinot supporter, who was overcome by the moment.

85km remaining from 177km

The five escapees are approaching the category 4 Cote de Saint-Jean-du-Pin (1.8km at 4.2%) with a lead of 1:05 over the peloton.

A mechanical issue for Peter Sagan, who looks to have unshipped his chain. He calmly stops to rectify the problem and then begins to chase back through the convoy. 

82km remaining from 177km

Sagan has safely rejoined the rear of the peloton ahead of the lower slopes of the day's lone classified climb.

81km remaining from 177km

Lars Bak (Dimension Data) claims the single king of the mountains point on offer atop the Côte de Saint-Jean-du-Pin.

A reminder of the situation with 50 miles remaining. Our five leaders are Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis), Łukasz Wiśniowski (CCC Team), Paul Ourselin (Total Direct Energie) and Lars Bak (Dimension Data). They have a lead of 1:15 over the peloton.

The one moment of drama this afternoon came when Geraint Thomas crashed at low speed with 131km remaining, but the Welshman quickly rejoined the peloton and does not seem to have suffered any lasting injury in the incident.

Movistar manager Eusebio Unzue has confirmed that Richard Carapaz and Nairo Quintana will leave his team at the end of this season. Carapaz is destined to move to Ineos, while Quintana is set for Arkea-Samsic. Meanwhile, Unzue affirmed his interest in signing Enric Mas from Deceuninck-QuickStep, while, contrary to earlier reports, he retains hope of keeping Mikel Landa. The Basque had previously been linked with Bahrain-Merida. Alasdair Fotheringham has more here.

72km remaining from 177km

Not for the first time on this Tour, Tony Martin has put in a mammoth shift at the head of the peloton. The gap to the break remains firm at 1:05.

Paul Ourselin flies the flag for Total Direct Energie in this break. Jean-Rene Bernaudeau's team have won less prize money than any other on the Tour thus far. Their running total of €6,630 is some way behind Jumbo-Visma's leading prize kitty of €83,830.

67km remaining from 177km

Ourselin isn't like to add much to Total's prize, er, total this afternoon. The break's lead is now down to 50 seconds as Jumbo-Visma, Lotto Soudal and UAE Team Emirates continue to chase.

65km remaining from 177km

The sprinters' teams won't want to pull the break back too soon, so as the gap drops to 45 seconds, one wonders if Tony Martin et al will knock off their pace slightly.

63km remaining from 177km

The temperature hits 36°C as the race reaches Lézan. The break's lead nudge back out slightly to 1:00 once again.

Dimension Data have endured a subdued Tour to this point, but Ben King struck an upbeat note about the remainder of their race. "We’re targeting tomorrow. The form has been up and down. I’m healthy and happy and that’s very important at this point in the race. I’m taking it one day at a time. The mood in the team is really positive. There are so many guys with so much experience like Lars Bak, Roman and Steve. It’s a really positive environment around the dinner table. That’s really important," King said. "We’re not the only team to want to win tomorrow but it’s probably a good day for the breakaway. A win in the Tour de France can turn around your entire season. Obviously we’re in the last week but the atmosphere in the team is still really upbeat and confident."

55km remaining from 177km

The break's lead is precisely one minute as they hit the final 55km. Gougeard, Rossetto, Wisniowski, Ourselin and Bak remain committed to their task but they know the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against them.

53km remaining from 177km

Danger here. Team Ineos and Groupama-FDJ both move towards the front, which suggests that the race is headed into a section of crosswind. A delegation from Movistar has also moved up and the break's lead has suddenly dropped to 40 seconds.

It's interesting that yellow jersey Julian Alaphilippe and Deceuninck-QuickStep are not stationed at the very front just yet. They held their fire on the road to Albi when EF Education First drilled on the front, but they were in the right place when the split finally took shape.

50km remaining from 177km

These frissons among the GC contenders' teams have slashed the break's lead to just 23 seconds. Movistar, Bora-Hansgrohe, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos and Jumbo-Visma are all vying for position at the front of the peloton.

There is currently a wind of 20-25kph blowing from the peloton's right, hence the scramble for positions among the GC teams, but as yet, there has been no split.

46km remaining from 177km

The break's lead has extended out to 55 seconds once again, but the GC teams are still posted towards the front end of the peloton.

43km remaining from 177km

Tony Martin is back at the head of the bunch and he winds up the pace once again. 40 seconds the gap between the break and the peloton. 

40km remaining from 177km

Another clump of seconds tumbles off the break's lead, which now stands at 35 seconds. The podium contenders and their teams are all still positioned towards the front of the peloton.

Gougeard, Wisniowski, Bak, Rossetto and Ourselin stick gamely to their task and their lead is back out to 48 seconds over a very tense peloton.

34km remaining from 177km

The race turns into a headwind in the final 30km or so, and that will likely seal the break's fate. Meanwhile, their lead is 47 seconds and there is still some anxiety among the GC contenders at the head of the bunch, with Julian Alaphilippe and Deceuninck-QuickStep finally moving up.

30km remaining from 177km

Into the final 30km for the escapees, who have 36 seconds in hand on a peloton where Tony Martin is doing all of the heavy lifting.

29km remaining from 177km

Riders in the peloton use both sides when passing through a roundabout, but while riders lose positions, no split has formed as a result.

27km remaining from 177km

A crash in the peloton sees Chad Haga (Sunweb) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) among the fallers. Fuglsang is back on his feet but his whole team is waiting with him. His helmet is off and he is getting assessed by his team doctor. It looks as though Fuglsang's Tour might be over.

Jakob Fuglsang has abandoned the Tour de France. He walks to the medical van and climbs in, his race over as a result of that crash.

Fuglsang was 9th overall, 5:27 down on Alaphilippe. The Dane was a faller on the opening stage in Brussels and, perhaps as a consequence, was struggling to replicate his remarkable early-season form on this Tour. 

22km remaining from 177km

As ever, the Tour goes on. Gougeard, Wisniowski, Ourselin, Bak and Rossetto are still clutching a lead of 40 seconds over a peloton that will surely peg them back ahead of the finish in Nîmes.

20km remaining from 177km

Into the final 20 kilometres for the leading quintet, who have 43 seconds in hand on the peloton, where Lotto Soudal and Jumbo-Visma are leading. It will be interesting to see what Deceuninck-QuickStep do for Elia Viviani in the finale, given that they have enjoyed the luxury of having to contribute little or nothing to the pursuit to this point.

17km remaining from 177km

The collaboration is still smooth among the five leaders, who still have 45 seconds in hand on the peloton.

16km remaining from 177km

Tony Martin and Maxime Monfort have both swung off the front of the peloton, and now it is Laurens De Plus who is performing the pace-making at the head of the bunch.

15km remaining from 177km

Kasper Asgreen hits the front of the peloton for Deceuninck-QuickStep, who are beginning to work on behalf of Viviani. Alaphilippe, meanwhile, is well-placed around 10 positions from the front.

14km remaining from 177km

Asgreen sets a searing tempo on an unclassified climb, and that has helped pin the break's lead down to 20 seconds. It might also draw the sting out of some sprinters' legs ahead of the grand finale in Nimes.

13km remaining from 177km

This has been a prodigious shift of pace-making from Asgreen, who has rapidly installed himself as a mainstay of the Deceuninck-QuickStep squad after making the step up from Continental level during last season.

11km remaining from 177km

Asgreen swings over and Jumbo-Visma take over once again on the front on behalf of Dylan Groenewegen. Other fast men are assembling at the business end of the bunch, including Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates).

10km remaining from 177km

The peloton is within sight of the five escapees as Lotto Soudal take up the reins in front. 18 seconds the gap with 10km remaining.

Kasper Asgreen returns to the front of the bunch for another shift of pace-setting. Up in the break, Wisniowski puts in a long turn in a bid to keep their flickering hopes alive.

8km remaining from 177km

Warren Barguil puts in a dig at the head of the bunch on behalf of Arkea-Samsic teammate Andre Greipel. The break's lead is down to 10 seconds. 

7km remaining from 177km

A delegation from Katusha-Alpecin comes to the front on behalf of Jens Debusschere. The break's lead drops to 9 seconds.

6km remaining from 177km

Alexis Gougeard has been awarded the combativity prize for the stage, though in truth, all five of the escapees have played their part. The remain 9 seconds up on the bunch.

A crash in the peloton sees Ben King (Dimension Data) come down but the American is already on his feet and ready to resume his race.

4km remaining from 177km

The five leaders benefit from the technical run-in to gain a little ground on the peloton. 10 seconds the gap.

Bora-Hansgrohe take up the chase on behalf of Peter Sagan. They still have 11 seconds to recoup on the breakaway of Rossetto, Ourselin, Bak, Wisniowski and Gougeard.

3km remaining from 177km

Daniel Oss leads the bunch into the final 3km and there is surely a collective sigh of relief for the GC contenders at reaching that landmark.

2km remaining from 177km

Game over for the five escapees, who are pegged back by the bunch with a shade over 2km to go.

1km remaining from 177km

Amund Grondahl Jansen is near the front for Jumbo-Visma, but it's Marco Haller (Katusha) who now takes up the reins.

1km remaining from 177km

Lotto Soudal lead into the final kilometre, but no one team has taken control of this finale.

Deceuninck-QuickStep move up with Morkov and Richeze leading the way for Viviani.

Max Richeze leads out the sprint for Viviani...

Elia Viviani goes but so too does Caleb Ewan...

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) wins stage 16 of the Tour de France.

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) takes second ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma). Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) took 4th.

It's been very balanced race among the sprinters to this point, but Caleb Ewan becomes the first of their number to claim a second win on this Tour. The Australian was full value for that win, deftly nipping around Richeze and holding off Viviani to claim the spoils.

Viviani kicked to Richeze's right, while Ewan went to his left. He had to veer around the slowing Argentinian, but had more than enough finishing speed to beat Viviani and take the win.

Result:

1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 3:57:08
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
6 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
7 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
10 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert

General classification after stage 16:

        
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 64:57:32
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:35
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:47
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:50
5 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 0:02:02
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:14
7 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:54
8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:00
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:05:33
10 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:30

Caleb Ewan speaks: "To be honest, I felt so bad today during the day. I think the heat really got to me. I was actually suffering so much I was almost about to tell Max [Monfort] to get off the front because I was really suffering but I had extra motivation today because my daughter and wife are here. I’m so happy I could win for them.

"I thought we were too far forward [in the final kilometre.] I had Jasper on the front with Dylan on the wheel with 1km to go so we weren’t in an ideal situation. But then he did such a strong pull. QuickStep came past and I lost a few more positions that I wanted to. I looked at this finish before and played all the scenarios, and one of the scenarios was if I was too far back. I think if you watch it, I laid off the wheel and took a run it by starting sprinting before the rest of the guys."

Jakob Fuglsang climbs into the X-ray truck at the finish line for assessment of the injuries that forced him to abandon the Tour.

Julian Alaphilippe remains in yellow: "Of course today was really warm day on the bike. But it's (the same) for everybody and you have to deal with it. For me, I put ice on my neck all day and I tried to drink a lot and not forget to eat. The final kilometres I was scared to crash. There was a lot of crashes and I never want to crash, but especially when you are the leader of the race. I tried to take care in all the corners. In the end, we didn't win with Elia but it was a good day. Gap is already not so easy stage, but we will see day after day."

Geraint Thomas, meanwhile, has confirmed that his crash was a result of his gears jamming.

You can find a full report, results and pictures from today's stage here.

You can read more about Geraint Thomas' crash here.

Astana have confirmed that Fuglsang sustained no fractures in his crash but he was in too much pain to continue in the Tour. "No fractures for @jakob_fuglsang, but heavy contusions of his hand, arms and knees," the team wrote in a Twitter post, adding a comment from Fulgsang: “I’m really disappointed I have to leave @LeTour like this, but there was too much pain to continue.”

Reaction to today's stage from Ewan, Alaphilippe, Nicolas Portal and Thomas De Gendt is available here.

Result:

1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 3:57:08
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
6 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
7 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
10 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert

General classification after stage 16:

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 64:57:32
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:35
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:47
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:50
5 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 0:02:02
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:14
7 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:54
8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:00
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:05:33
10 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:30