tour de france stage 16 live updates

Tour de France stage 16 Live - Pogacar attacks Vingegaard in Pyrenees as Houle takes emotional win

Attacks fly on the Port de Lers and Mur de Péguère as Bardet cracks and Canada celebrates a historic win

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Tour de France stage 15 Live - Vingegaard survives crash on long hot ride to Carcassonne

Prize fight in the Pyrenees – Vingegaard versus Pogacar for the Tour de France

-Stage 16 is from Carcassonne to Foix with a loop into the Pyrenees

-Jonas Vingegasard leads Tadej Pogacar by 2:22 in the overall classification

-Geraint Thomas is third at 2:43

-An early breakaway of 29 riders includes Aleksandr Vlasov and Wout van Aert

115km to go

125km to go, 135km to go, 154km to go, 165km to go.

Bonjour and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 16 of the 2022 Tour de France.

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height, the riders are signing on and gathering for the start.

Riders are wearing ice-vest and stasyinghydrasted but fortunately the weather is cooler today it is currently 29C in Carcassonne.

⛰️🚴‍♂️🥵 𝙋𝙮𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚! ✊ @LeTour | 🇫🇷 #TDF2022 Vamos con la 16ª etapa, superando en los últimos setenta kilómetros los puertos de Lers (1ª) y Mur de Péguère (1ª).Tres días durísimos, y muy calurosos, por delante. 💪 #RodamosJuntos📸 @SprintCycling pic.twitter.com/qqm4pTj0fc July 19, 2022

#TDF2022 Bonjour 👋👋👋 pic.twitter.com/iUcrPtFHJT July 19, 2022

As always, Cyclingnews will have full live coverage of the 178.5km stage.

The stage is the first of three in the Pyrenees. Today is the easier of the three but could still see attacks amongst the GC riders. 

Alpecin-Deceuninck are the last team to sign on after Jasper Philipsen won stage 15 in Carcassonne on Sunday. 

Five minutes to the roll out. 

The riders are lining up on the start line.

Jonas Vingegaard takes up his place on the front line of the grid as race leader and yellow jersey.  

Pogacar lines up alongside Vingegaard. 

Will we see a battle between the two today? Perhaps. We should at least see the early skirmishes. 

C'est Parti! 

The countdown ends, the local mayor drop the flag and the riders roll out of Carcassonne. 

Allez le gars!

C'est parti !!🚩 Carcassonne 🏁 Foix#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/xsVeJBQALn July 19, 2022

This is Le Tour's preview. 

💛 One last week to try to turn the GC upside down, and it starts today with stage 16.💛 Une dernière semaine pour tenter de renverser le classement général. Ça commence par cette 16ème étape.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/0DmpV2dxFY July 19, 2022

The riders face 5.4km of neutralised roads before the 'depart reel.'

The riders are tired after 15 stages of intense racing but we're expecting attacks to go into the break of the day.

There is an east wind blowing, which could make the early kilometres fast and nervous.    

As you may have seen on Cyclingnews, the AG2R Citroën team have revealed that Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Mikaël Chérel were the two riders at the  Tour de France  to test positive for COVID-19 on the final rest day. 

Further testing has ruled that their viral load does not allow them to continue in the race.

After losing leader Ben O'Connor and other riders to injury,  the AG2R Citroën team have just three riders left in the Tour: 

Benoit Cosnefroy, Stan Dewulf and Bob Jungels.

Here we go! 

Race director Christian Prudhomme waves his yellow flag and the stage is on.

Attack! 

Tim Wellens is the first to make a move. But he is quickly closed down.

The stage starts with a gradual climb out of Carcassonne. The Côte de Saint-Hilaire cat 4 climb comes after 10km.  

Neilson Powless of EF has sparked another attack. A dozen or so riders are with him. 

Others riders surge across and suddenly there are 29 riders up there, with almost every team present. 

The peloton is already 1:00 behind as Michael Matthews tries to go across. 

That will not be easy.

Riders up front include: Vlasov, Caruso and Teuns,  

Dani Martinez for Ineos, Brandon McNulty for UAE are there, as is Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma.   

This was the moment the attack went away.

💪 A big group at the front, including 💚 @WoutvanAert and ⚪🔴 @simongeschke.💪 Un gros groupe ouvre la route. On y retrouve notamment 💚 Wout van Aert et ⚪🔴 Simon Geschke.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/nkr2qySKgb July 19, 2022

Quinn Simmons is also trying to jump across but he is 2:00 behind and Zimmerman stops working with him.

Simmons appears to have shaved off his red beard on the rest day. This was one of his attacks earlier in the Tour.  

Aleksandr Vlasov is 11th overall at 10:32, he is the highest ranked of the breakaway group. 

Neilson Powless, Valentin Madouas and Damiano Caruso are the other members of the top 20 overall.

The attacks has opened a 3:30 lead on the peloton. 

Matthews and Simmons both appear to have missed the move and are losing time on the attackers.

Bissegger is the first to top of the Côte de Saint-Hilaire and scores 1 KOM point, beating polka-dot jersey wearer Geschke. 

The peloton reaches the summit of the Côte de Saint-Hilaire with a gap of 5:05. 

The Jumbo-Visma team is riding on the 

Jumbo-Visma are leading the peloton to protect Vingegaard's race lead.

However they have van Aert and Van Hooydonck in the 29-rider attack.

The climb has already split the attack, with Burgaudeau, Gougeard and Jorgenson going clear. 

There is already a race within the breakaway, which is the race within in the race. 

The roads are twisting up and down and through the vineyards and sunflowers of the stunning Aude region, south of Carcassonne. 

In the peloton Jumbo have just 2 riders on the front - Laporte and Benoot, with lots of Ineos riders behind them and then Vingegaard sat in their slipstream.

The peloton is at 5:50 and lined out on the country roads.

Up Front, Jorgenson of Movistar has eased up and is dropping back to the attack group. 

Burgaudeau and Gougeard push on and lead by 55 seconds. 

The rider start the Col de l'Espinas. It is 5.2km long at 5.2%.

Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) has just been told by his team car to ease up. That leaves Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) alone out front but his leads is falling. 

The 28 chasers will surely catch him soon. 

Only six teams with full rosters going into final mountain stages of the Tour and Ineos Grenadiers are among them, while Jumbo and UAE are down to six riders.

Can the British team use its numerical advantage to push Geraint Thomas even higher on GC?

Thomas has dropped back to his team car. The mechanic seems to have applied some sun cream on his back. 

Four-time winner of @LeTour , @chrisfroome is on bottle duty today. #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/bY8XB2Uow9 July 19, 2022

The peloton has slipped to 6:30 on Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM).  

Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) reaches the top of the climb alone as he continues his solo exploit up front.

Bissegger leads the chase group  to the climb at 40 seconds. 

These are the 29 riders in the attack. 

Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) 

Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Wout van Aert and Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo-Visma), Daniel Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers), Alexander Vlasov, Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mikkel Honoré (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Gorka Izagirre and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Damiano Caruso and Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious), Olivier Le Gac, Valentin Madouas and Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ), Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM), Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan), Stefan Bissegger and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Maxime Bouet and Lukasz Owsian (Arkéa-Samsic), Philippe Gilbert and Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Tony Gallopin (Trek-Segafredo), Hugo Houle and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Cyril Barthe (B&B Hotels-KTM). 

Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) lead the 28 by 50 seconds. 

The peloton is 6:20, with the work of Benoot and Laporte pegging the gap at around 6:00. 

That still means that Vlasov will still move up in the GC if he can hold his gap. 

The riders are on rolling valley roads. The next key point is the intermediate sprint in Lavelanet, in 20km or so. 

Crash in the peloton!

Nobody was hurt in the crash and everyone was quickly away.

Up front Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) has been caught and so we have a 29-rider attack. 

They lead the peloton by 6:00.

The work of Jumbo is reducing the gap to the break. It's down to 5:30.

It will be interesting to see if Wout van Aert and Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo-Visma) drop back after the intermediate sprint that comes in 10km.  

Caleb Ewan stops for to have his saddle position tweaked. The nose is dropped a little, perhaps to help him after his crash the other day.

The AG2R Citroën team revealed that Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Mikaël Chérel were the two riders at the  Tour de France  to test positive for COVID-19 on the final rest day. 

Barry Ryan spoke to AG2R Citroën team manager Vincent Lavenu about the cases to get the full story.  Click below to read what Lavenu said. 

Two AG2R Citröen riders leave Tour de France with positive COVID-19 test

5km to the intermediate sprint in Lavelanet.

Poor Tiesj Benoot is working a lot on the front of the peloton to keep the gap at 6:00.

He crashed hard on stage 15 and is battered and bruised.

Mark Cavendish has vowed to return to the  Tour de France  and is confident he can win again and so beat Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage victories.

The 37-year-old Manxman was not selected for the  QuickStep-AlphaVinyl  roster, with  Fabio Jakobsen  securing the sprinter’s role but he made his ambitions clear while speaking to the BBC from the Isle of Man as he prepared for the Commonwealth Games road race.

"I know I'll win again,"  Mark Cavendish  told the  BBC .

Click below for the full Cavendish story.

‘I know I’ll win again’ Cavendish vows to fight on for Tour de France record

Well, that's a surprise.  Nils Eekhoff beat van Aert to win the intermediate sprint, collecting the 20 points. 

Van Aert scored 17 points and quickly had a word with Eekhoff. However he is mathematically close to winning the green jersey.  

Six minutes for @MikkelHonore and his 28 breakaway companions over a #TDF2022 peloton that is more than happy with this group.Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/OFW2oWxYdu July 19, 2022

The 29 riders are rolling through and off on the flat roads as they head towards the foothills of the Pyrenees.

The peloton gets to the sprint point some 6:40 after the break. 

Hmmm. Marc Soler of UAE has slipped back from the peloton. 

He has already visited the doctor's car. Is he ill? 

UAE team leader Tadej Pogacar is up front with his other teammates.

Of course, UAE also have Big Nut Brandon McNulty in the 29-rider break as a strategical move.  

We're hearing from French television that Soler has vomited earlier in the stage. 

He is suffering in the 31C heat. And the hardest part of the stage, the two major climbs, are still to come. 

The peloton reaches the feed zone, with riders grabbing musettes to enjoy a moving lunch. 

The peloton has eased slightly, with Vingegaard taking a natural break. The gap to the 29-rider attack is up to 7:00.   

Soler is not feeling great but does seem able to ride on. He will try to finish inside the time limit and try to recover for the next two stages in the Pyrenees. 

Jumbo continue to lead the peloton but Ineos are also riding up front. However only Christophe Laporte is riding for Jumbo, hence the gap going up to 7:30.    

Poor Marc Soler is riding just ahead of the broom wagon. 

He faces a 88km ride of survival.  

#TDF2022 Over 7 minutes for the breakaway now 👌 Allez @tonygallopin! 📸 ASO/Charly López pic.twitter.com/Al6MVhPpNS July 19, 2022

With Soler sick, Marc Hirschi was on domestique duty.

The 29 riders in the break are pushing on, trying to evade the peloton.

Marc Soler is suffering just ahead of the Voiture Balai.

Fortunately for Pogacar he looks fine and has several teammates in the peloton to help him.

The first climb of the Pyrenees comes in 22km. That means the climb starts in 12km.

The Port de Lers is 11.5km at 6.5%. It will surely shake up the race, split the break and expose the team leaders and their teams. 

Barry Ryan is in Foix and has written an excellent preview of the Vingegaard-v-Pogacar battle that is expected to happen today and especially on Wednesday and Thursday in the Pyrenees. He's compared the two to prize fighters. 

Barry writes: 

"On the day Tadej Pogačar sent Primož Roglič sprawling to the canvas atop La Planche des Belles at the end of the 2020 Tour de France, he became his sport’s undisputed heavyweight champion. In almost every outing since, he has seemed to produce dizzying combinations that left even the doughtiest of opponents feeling punch drunk.

"But now, just as Pogačar’s dominance was becoming monotonous,  Jonas Vingegaard has emerged  as the Frazier to his Ali. The Dane already performed the rare feat of laying a glove on Pogačar when he briefly distanced him atop Mont Ventoux en route to  second overall on last year’s Tour , but that warning shot came long after a boxing referee would already have stopped the fight. An unbloodied Pogačar still reached Paris with a lead of more than five minutes over Vingegaard."

To read Barry Ryan's full feature, click below.

🏁70KMWith 70km to go, the big break has 7'22" over the peloton, with the two big difficulties yet to come.A 70 km de l'arrivée, la grande échappée a 7'22' d'avance sur le peloton, avec encore deux grosses difficultés à venir.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/p4WH1T3Usi July 19, 2022

Poor Marc Soler is now 17:00 down on the attackers. Yet he bravely rides on.

The Port de Lers starts and there is a sudden acceleration in the 29-rider attack.

Caruso and Le Gac up the pace massively. Other riders are dropped, including Gilbert. 

Caruso goes solo. 

He's is going for a long-range attack.

The peloton are 8:00 down but now riding faster as they also near the foot of the Port de Lers.   

Damiano Caruso is on a mission to complete his Giro/Tour/Vuelta stage win collection. 

But the chase group is numerous and strong. Woods and Storer  going across to him.

Caruso already leads by 1:00. Forza! 

In the peloton Laporte is dropped after his hard work on the front. 

Incredibly van Aert is still up front and in the group chasing Caruso. He has not done any work today and is up the road if Vingegaard needs him but his tactics are questionable. 

Woods and Storer join Caruso with 4km of the Port de Lers to climb.

Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) is also chasing and Geschke moves too. Vlasov and van Aert join him, as does McNulty.

Behind Movistar kick-off the GC race, upping the pace for Mas. 

Three riders are trying to drag mas away. 

This is interesting. Mas is 10th at 9:58 and needs to pull back time.

Now Groupama mass at the front of the GC group and Vingegaard loses Benoot.

He only has Kuss to pace him now. 

Up front the attackers have come together. 

Van Aert is again going deep in the attack rather than ride in the peloton with Vingeggard.   

Of course Pogacar only has Majka with him, McNulty is in the attack and Soler is sick and stay in the race.

Geschke surges to take maximum points at the KOM.

There are 7 riders in the attack group. Van Aert, McNulty, Geschke and Jorgenson have joined Caruso, Storer and Woods in the lead.

They're racing for the stage victory.

Geshke scores 10 more KOM points.

The GC group is 9:20 down on the attackers and so still have a way to climb.

ATTACK POGACAR!!!!

However Vingegaard quickly manages to join him.

The Dane responded very well to the first attack. 

Now there's another!

The two ease and so Gaudu accelerates away. Thomas follows him.

The attacks have blown the GC group apart. 

Bardet is dropped as Kuss is back to pace the group and protect Vingegaard.

The GC riders reach the summit of the Port de Lers at 7:30. 

Pogacar attacks again! This time on the descent!

Again Vingegaard jumps on his wheel. 

This is mano-a-mano racing. 

Thomas and the other come back to Vin+Pog as Bardet is forced to chase hard with several teammates.

Today's stage and the Port de Lers was the entree to the big Pyrenean stages and today's final climb. 

Pogacar has kicked it off earlier than expected.

Thomas and Yates, Quintana and others are there as they catch Mas. 

Up front, Vlasov joins the attack. 

Bardet is 20 seconds down on the GC group.

It's still hot out there, despite the race entering the Pyrenees.

Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) is now on the move up front, forcing the others to chase and so give Woods a free ride. 

The Canadian is onto the final climb of the stage, the steep Mur de Péguère.

It is a real wall in parts and climbs 9.3km at 7.9% but the second half is the real steep part.  

The attack has split into 4 different group. All could still win the stage.

This is the Mur de Péguère. It is going to hurt.

🔎 And now, the Mur de Péguère awaits. Discover its 3D profile.🔎 Et maintenant c'est le Mur de Péguère qui attend les coureurs. Voici son profil 3D.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/j63D2QvWXA July 19, 2022

Jumbo again lead the GC group. Vinegegaard has Kuss and now Nathan Van Hooydonck riding on the front. 

Majka has a problem. 

Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) attacks the GC group to try to anticipate later surges. Clever, if it works. 

Houle is pushing on bravely as the gradients begin to hurt.

Houle leads the Woods group by 45 seconds, the van Aert group is at 1:30.  

Behind Meintjes is back in the GC peloton, which is at 8:00. They will not fight for the stage today.  

Van Art is dropped from his group and eases up. He will have to play a role for Vingegaard on the descent to the finish in Foix.

Movistar is pacing the GC group to the steepest parts of the Mur de Péguère.

Movistar's work is helping Jumbo to control the race with their pacing. 

Is that a friendly alliance growing there?  

As the steep roads begin, Majka moves past Movistar to set a harder pace.

Pogacar is spinning his legs for now. But Pidcock and Bardet are quickly dropped.

Thomas and Yates are slightly off the back but riding their own pace.

The GC group is spread down the road. Froome is not far from the front of the action.

Yates makes an effort to drag Thomas up to the Pog+Vin group.

Quintana and Gaudi are also there. 

Majka has a problem and so Pogacar is alone.

Majka seemed to snap his chain. Ouch.

Now Kuss is setting the pace and hurting everyone in the GC group.  

Houle is first to the top and faces a fast descent to the finish. The chasers are at 25 seconds.

Behind it's Kuss+Vingegaard+Pogacar+Quintana.

Thomas is 30 seconds behind now, he's struggling on the steep climb. 

Thomas has dropped Gaudu and is fighting to limit his losses.  

Thomas, with some help from Dani Martinez who was in the break, gets back to the yellow jersey group. 

Van Aert is also with them, after also waiting from the break.   

Pogacar also has McNulty in a clever game of team tactics. 

The GC group is 6:10 down on Houle, who is still solo up front and chasing his first ever pro road race win. 

He leads his chasers by 30 seconds. They are Jorgenson and his teammate Woods.

So it's Canada, with the USA (Jorgenson) chasing, with Canada (Woods) rightly sitting on.

If all goes right for Israel, they could go 1-2 today.

The other chasers are 1:20 back. 

We spoke too soon! 

Jorgenson has crashed! 

He slipped out on a corner! 

Jorgenson slipped across the rough Pyrenees gravel.  

That's tragic for the American. Let's hope he can get up and chase. 

 The crash has left Woods chasing Houle at 30 seconds. 

The last and only Canadian stage winner in the Tour de France was Steve Bauer in 1988.

He's in the team car now for Israel-PremierTech.

Jorgenson returns to Woods. He's full of road rash but refuses to give up the fight. 

That means that Woods can now sit on him again.

Whatever happens, Hugo Houle (Israel Premier Tech) has won the Prix Antargaz de la Combativité for his attack. 

Jorgenson has a wound on his left arm, with blood running down his arm but he races on.

Houle has extended his lead out to 1:00 on Jorgenson and Woods. 

He can savour his first pro win and Canada's first win since 1988. 

Behind Martinez is dragging the Vingegaard group along to try to gain time on some of their GC rivals, especially Bardet, who was fourth overall.  

This could be a historic day for North American cycling, with a possible 1-2-3 for Houle, Woods and Jorgenson. 

Here's Houle. He can start to celebrate and remember his late brother.

It will be an emotional finish for him.

Indeed, he points to the sky and punches the air.

Chapeau Hugo! 

Houle wins the stage in Foix! 

Madouas has joined Woods and Jorgenson.  

He spoils the North American party by taking second place, ahead of Woods.

Here come the chasers, including Vlasov, who will gain time in the GC.

It is 34 years and 15 days since Steve Bauer's stage win. This is there second. 

Houle takes out a chain with a cross and says: 'This is for my brother."

Woods arrives beyond the finish and hugs Houle.  

Here comes the GC group. 

It's important to see the gaps to Bardet and others in the top 10. 

We'll see some changes. 

Van Aert brings them home to score a few points but there is no gap between Vingegaard and Pogacar and Thomas too. 

Indeed, Vingegaard hugs and thanks van Aert. 

In the GC, Quintana moves up to fourth overall, passing Bardet. 

Pidcock and Yates come, a minute or so down. Bardet is still out there and fighting to limit his losses.

Bardet loses a chunk of time. 

They are naturally celebrating at the Israel Premier Tech team bus.

Pogacar is given a cold water shower as he warms-down in the podium area.

Pogacar attacked on the first climb but then the pace set by Kuss hurt him and he was unable to attack on the Mur de Péguère. 

Houle celebrated his stage win with lots of emotions. He dedicated it to his brother, who was killed a decade ago. 

Riders are still finishing the stage in Foix. 

The time limit is 42:13 today. 

Here are more shots of Houle's big day out and how he dedicated his win to his late brother Pierrick. 

It's nice to see that fellow French-speaking Canadian heads to the podium area to congratulate Hugo Houle.  

Houle can savour his moment on the podium.

He smiles and waves to the crowd but is emotional. 

Jonas Vingegaard can also celebrate on the podium. He defended his 2:22 lead on Pogacar. 

Houle was emotional about his win.

"I’ve never won a race so I guess it’s the right place to win my first race," he said.

"When I attacked, it was to set the table for Michaewl Woods but they let me go and Mike made a gap. I just went full gas. I hung on and hung and was suffering so much on the steep part of the climb. 

"I knew that if I got to the top with 30 or 40 seconds, that I could do it and so I went full gas. It was tight and a long time at 30 seconds but I never gave up.  When they showed me I was at one minute, it was unreal and I knew I was going to do it.

"I was a bit afraid and suffered with cramps because I couldn’t get to the team car for the last 60km but I made it."  

Houle talked dedicating his win to his later brother.

"This means a lot to me. I had one dream: to win the stage for my brother who died when I turned professional. I won this for him. I waited for 12 years for this. Today I got my win for him. It’s incredible. I don’t know what to say, I’m so happy." 

This is the emotional flash interview.  

"I had one dream, to win the stage for my brother"🇨🇦 @HugoHoule after his magnificent win ❤️#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/SWbam09C4R July 19, 2022

Sadly not everyone could celebrate today. 

Daniel Ostanek is at the finish line for Cyclingnews and has confirmed that Marc Soler finished outside the time limit.   

The Spaniard was ill and was dropped early in the stage. He fought to finish but came in after the 42:13 time limit.

Here's Vingegaard on the podium. He must be feeling more and more confident as he responds to every Pogacar attack. 

To read more about how Vingegaard responded to Pogacar's attacks and how houel won alone in foix, click below to read our full stage report and see the growing photo gallery.  

Hugo Houle wins stage 16 of Tour de France with solo attack in Pyrenees

We challenge you to watch this video and not cry. 

@HugoHoule dedicates win to his late brother https://t.co/LG3WUYuiZz July 19, 2022

In contrasting emotions, this was the moment Marc Soler finished outside the time limit. 

It leaves Pogacar with just 4 teammates!

Geraint Thomas made it through another hard stage without losing time to Pogcar and Vingegaard, while gaining time on  on some GC rivals like Bardet.

"It’s tough to do anything with the front row because they’re super strong but you never know," Thomas said. 

"I never expected Pogacar to have the day he had up the Granon. It’s good the team is strong and Dani is feeling a lot better after his sickness and Castroviejo is on his way back up too. We've got Yatesy and Tom Pidcock too. 

"A big shout out to Yatesy, he really committed to me there.  He’s out of contract this year and that can always play a part when committing to a teammate but he committed to helping me and was really strong. That allowed me to close the gap at the top."   

Thomas added: 

"It was hot out there and after the rest day, you never quite know how people are going to pull up. 

"It was a nervous start with the wind, and the break went pretty quickly. It was good for us because we had Dani in there. It was a case of doing the two climbs as best as possible. I rode my own pace and I’ve been doing most of the race and come back to them just over the top. 

"I had Dani there to close the last 100 metres which was great. I gained a bit of time on Bardet, which is nice but the other guys are still all there. It was a decent day." 

Thomas is considering the Pyrenees as a big block of important racing. 

"I’m seeing it as a three-day block and every stage gets harder. Four solid climbs tomorrow and then the day after there are three but even tougher," he said. 

"A lot can still happen especially in his heat. We’re dealing with it but if it does get you, you can get through it but the knock-on effect can make you pay for it." 

Daniel Ost`a nek spoke to Steve Bauer at the finish in Foix and will have a full story very soon on Cyclingnews.   

Bauer was the last Canadian to win a Tour stage back in 1988 and was in the Israel team car today, advising Houle.  

"It’s incredible to see. What a tough pro Huge has been. He’s like the top team man for his leaders, doing his job day in, day out," Bauer told Cyclingnews. 

"He’s a top professional. He studies the plan, he organises himself well and to have such a performance like that today is superb. He had a chance to go for the wein and he was super strong. He rode smart, he rode strong and deserves it all."  

To study the full results from the stage, click below. The results are provided by our friends at FirstCycling .

Despite some aggressive attacks from Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on Port de Lers,  Jonas Vingegaard  (Jumbo-Visma) remains in yellow after stage 16 with a margin of 2:22 over the Slovenian.

But Pogačar's attacks took their toll as Romain Bardet (Team DSM). He suffered badly during the first major climb and then was dropped more dramatically on Mur de Péguère. Bardet now sits just inside the top 10, 6:37 behind Vingegaard.

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) was also in the break and so gained four minutes, moving up from 11th to 8th. 

Click below to read the latest GC standings.

The current GC standings in the 2022 Tour de France after stage 16

Hugo Houle took an emotional stage win in Foix, while Tadej Pogacar tried to attack Jonas Vingegaard but the Dane responded every time.

Click below for our full stage report, photo gallery and full results.

Thanks for joining us for full live coverage of stage 16. 

We'll be back on Wednesday for full coverage of stage 17. 

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Tour de France stage 16 as it happened: Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar do battle against the clock

Join us for blow-by-blow updates from the only individual time trial at this year's Tour de France

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The second rest day has passed and we're back into the action at the Tour de France . Today, it's an individual time trial - the only one of this year's race - and the stage is set for a GC showdown between Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). 

10 seconds separate the duo ahead of the day, with the Dane in command of the yellow jersey. Can Pogačar finally topple him? Join me, Tom Davidson , for live updates as we find out. 

Passy > Combloux - ITT (22.4km)

Ahead of today's stage start at 12:05 (BST), let's take a look at what's in store for the riders. 

The French Alps play host to a tough, uphill time trial between the communes of Passy and Combloux. At only 22.4km in length, it's a short race against the clock, but the final kicker to the line (2.5km at 9.4%) will certainly slow the riders down.

There have been rumours of planned bike changes before the Côte de Domancy, with some expected to change their time trial steeds for road bikes, so keep an eye out for that. 

Key start times

Here are some of the start times to look out for in today's ITT. The riders will go down the ramp in ascending order depending on where they are in the general classification, so the current lanterne rouge , Soudal Quick-Step's Michael Mørkøv, will be off first. 

12:05 - Michael Mørkøv (Soudal Quick-Step) 13:10 - Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) 14:21 - Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 14:22 - Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) 15:00 - Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) 15:19 - Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 15:36 - Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) 15:38 - Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) 15:46 - Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) 15:50 - Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma)

15:52 - Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) 15:54 - Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) 15:56 - Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) 15:58 - Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 16:00 - Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

All times are in BST. Check out our sister website Cyclingnews for a full list . 

Here's some pre-race reading for you. My colleague Adam Becket , who is on the ground in Combloux today, has been asking the Tour de France peloton what they're expecting from the ITT. 

"It's not going to be one for the specialists," Stefan Küng told him. "It's going to be more one for the GC contenders." 

Read the full piece: The Tour de France's crucial stage 16 time trial

If the Côte de Domancy sounds familiar to you, it might be because it was the key climb in the 1980 World Championships, held in Sallanches and won by Frenchman Bernard Hinault. That day, the peloton tackled the climb 20 times, with only 15 riders making it to the finish. 

The Côte has also featured twice before at the Tour. It made its debut in 2016 in the Sallanches-Megève time trial, and returned to host a Pierre Latour stage win in 2021.

Bike change for Tadej? 

Pogacar trocou de bike no reconhecimento da crono ind de amanhã.#Tdf2023 #ciclismonaespn pic.twitter.com/v7aQwVBBRS July 17, 2023

During his recon ride of the time trial course yesterday, Tadej Pogačar performed a bike change, switching to his road bike for the steep final climb. 

It is likely that the Slovenian's time trial bike is considerably heavier than his lightweight Colnago V4RS . If he can knock off a few kilograms of weight there, then he has the potential to save a handful of watts and take back crucial seconds. 

It is unknown if Jonas Vingegaard will also go for a bike change, though he has been spotted on a stripped-back, weight-cutting Cérvelo P5 TT bike. The chances are he'll ride it the whole way. 

Ahead of today's stage, the Eritrean national road race champion, Awet Aman, rode the ITT course on a single-speed Qhubeka bike . 

Aman took on the challenge to raise money for the Qhubeka charity, which donates bicycles to children across southern Africa. Today, on Mandela Day, the Tour is celebrating its partnership with Qhubeka. 

#TDF2023 20y old Eritrean national road race champion 2023 is riding @LeTour ITT on a @Qhubeka bike on #MandelaDay Read more about Qhubeka and donatehttps://t.co/BtP58oc3do pic.twitter.com/m2vnOGMTQN July 18, 2023

King of the mountains duel

It's not all about the yellow jersey battle today. There's going to be a fight for KOM points on the top of the category-two Côte de Domancy. 

Our reporters on the ground have discovered that Neilson Powless (EF Education EasyPost) will be running a unique set-up today - a road bike with a disc wheel - in an attempt to regain the polka dot jersey. The American is riding a 54/40, with a 40mm deep front wheel and turned-in hoods. 

Giulio Ciccone, the current king of the mountains, is expected to change bikes at the foot of the climb. He is currently tied with Powless on 58 points. 

Stage 16 gets underway

Michael Mørkøv (Soudal Quick-Step) rolls down the start ramp and opens proceedings for today's stage. 

Already, just a few kilometres into the course, Mørkøv is climbing. The first ascent is uncategorised, but with pitches at 10%, it is not to be sniffed at. 

John Degenkolb hits the deck! Just 200 metres into his run, the dsm-firmenich rider swings onto a right hander and slides out. Oily roads perhaps? 

Alexis Renard (Cofidis) has gone down, too. Same corner as Degenkolb's crash. 

I'm now grimacing every time a rider comes into the first bend. Two riders have already fallen, and the stage only started 15 minutes ago. 

Make that three crashes. Nils Eekhoff goes down as well. The first corner is cursed. 

Mørkøv has 6km remaining of his effort and is now on the Côte de Domancy. He has stuck with his TT bike and is sat up comfortably in his saddle, spurred on by the fans that line the roadside. 

13% gradients now for Mørkøv. It looks tough, and it's not abating. 

With 4km to go, the road kicks up to 14%. The race organisers have put a line of yellow rope at the side of the road, which most fans are staying behind. 

The tough climbing has stopped for Mørkøv, 3km from the line, and he's back in his aerotuck position. Expect other riders to do similar throughout the day. 

Norwegian TT champ Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X) performs the first bike change of the day, and ships a few seconds in doing so. He did so at 5.6km to go, at the bottom of the climb. 

Mørkøv was the first off and he's the first across the line. 39-46 is the benchmark, with an average speed of 33.8km/h.

The main takeaway is that the climbing doesn't really stop for the last 6km, even if the categorised ascent is just 2.5km long. 

Hi all, Tom Thewlis here taking over a bit while Tom Davidson grabs some lunch!

Peter Sagan is out on the course at the moment and on the verge of catching Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Emirates) Strong ride from the seven-time Tour de France green jersey winner. He's in sixth place out on the road at the first intermediate time check, although that won't count for much whatsoever by the time the favourites get going later. Either way, hats off to him. 

Sagan has just passed Bjerg as he goes for a bike change. That's got to be the slowest bike change in history. Perhaps UAE are using Bjerg as a guinea pig for a change for Pogacar later?

Looks like Bjerg has just passed Sagan again..... that didn't last long! Bjerg changed his bike on a pretty steep section of the Côte de Domancy.... will be interesting to see if UAE choose the same point for a change for Pogacar IF he chooses to switch. 

Right! Here goes Rémi Cavagna. The Frenchman can put some serious power down, so could go well here. The French national champ isn't the most accomplished on hillier terrain, but should still put in a solid ride. 

Sean Kelly is saying on Eurosport right now that he doesn't see how a bike change can make that much difference today. Are we seeing more mind games from UAE and Pogačar this afternoon? 

Here's Cavagna out on the road. He's absolutely flying at the moment as expected.

Rain is forecast out on the course this afternoon and the black clouds are looking pretty ominous!

Cavagna is still flying.... he's about go go through the second check point out on the road. He's just set the best time at the second check point and is about to start climbing the Côte de Domancy.

Cavagna is being roared on by the French supporters as he tackles the 11% gradients on this climb. He's going really deep to get a good result here, not far now to the finish.

Mads Pedersen has just taken over the hot seat at the finish, beating Bahrain Victorious' Nikias Ardnt's time by 1-12. Cavagna should almost certainly displace Pedersen straightaway though.  

As expected there we have it! Cavagna beats Pedersen and sets a new time of 35-42 and averages 37.6 kph.

We bid farewell to Tom Thewlis now, as I (Tom Davidson) am back from my lunch break. Three-bean Mexican soup, for those of you wondering. 

The current podium, with around 80 riders still to come, is: 

1. Rémi Cavagna (Soudal Quick-Step) - 35.42 2. Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) - 36.07 3. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) - 36.35

Speaking after his effort, Cavagna has said his time should be well beaten this afternoon. He reckons he's in for a "top 10, maybe top 15". 

Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step) comes close to his team-mate's time, but he's 35 seconds short of the hot seat. 

A sprint finish? In a time trial? 

Bryan Coquard and Benoît Cosnefroy had some fun when they crossed the line. 

Oh quel sprint chaud sur Combloux entre Le Coq et @BenoitCosnefroy ! Quel final messieurs ! Merci ! 😁#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/KM0lS08KIB July 18, 2023

Victor Lafay (Cofidis) hits the floor, within touching distance of the finish line. Looks like his chain locked up as he got out the saddle. 

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) are both out on the course.

Remember, Powless has set out to do the entire course on a modified road bike - complete with a disc wheel. He's after the KOM points. 

We're well over the halfway mark, with just 56 riders still to start. The big guns will start setting off in an hour or so. 

⏱ Tick, Tock...💛 Get ready!🤍 Soyez prêts !#TDF2023 | @TISSOT pic.twitter.com/VtDJWXqakA July 18, 2023

Here goes Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), everyone's favourite nearly man. The hilly course isn't suited to him, but he'll definitely give it a good nudge. 

Cavagna's time (35-42) still reigns supreme in Combloux.

A strong TT pain face from Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies). He's provisionally in fourth place, 51 seconds off Cavagna. 

Küng sets a new best time to the first time check, around 7km into the course. He'll slow down on the climb, though (or will he?).

Powless has powered up the Côte de Domancy. He grinds to a near standstill at the top, but he's still got 4km to go.  

A bike change for Küng, who looks to be bang on Cavagna's pace at the moment. 

Tough final effort for Küng as he comes into the line here. He faded towards the end there and finished fifth, quite a way off Cavagna's time. 

You can see a few riders really beginning to struggle as they gradually reach the summit of the Côte de Domancy. 

It looks pretty hot and humid out there, here's what Kasper Asgreen had to say at the finish. "[It's] really brutal. The last part from the steep part to the finish line was endless, it's still 5-6% uphill after [the Côte de Domancy]. With the heat and the humidity, it's horrible."

Here goes Wout van Aert down the start ramp. Jumbo-Visma, interestingly, are still yet to win a stage in this year's Tour.

Let's take a moment to appreciate Giulio Ciccone's polka dot skinsuit. Very classy, Giulio. 

A strong time from Alexey Lutsenko. He comes home in fourth, 49 seconds off Cavagna, whose time is looking better and better with each rider that finishes. 

Ciccone climbs the Côte de Domancy faster than Powless and, as things stand, will continue to wear the polka dot jersey on Wednesday. 

Tom Pidcock is out on the road. Here are 21 things you probably didn't know about him . 

Wout van Aert is trending faster as this ride goes on. 7th at the first time check, 4th at the second. Let's see if he can hold the pace up the 2.5km Côte. 

Van Aert is on course to beat Cavagna's time! The Belgian still has 3.7km to go, but he's crushing the double-figure gradients. 

Here come the Top 5. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) is out on the course. Adam Yates, Carlos Rodríguez, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard will follow over the next ten minutes. 

We have a new best time! Wout van Aert keeps his TT bike for the whole course and thunders into the hot seat with 35-27, knocking 15 seconds off Cavagna's time. 

Ladies and gentlemen, Tadej Pogačar is on the course. 

Two minutes have passed. It's Jonas Vingegaard time. 

The battle for the yellow jersey is now playing out before us. 

No surprise here, but both Vingegaard and Pogačar are on course to beat Wout van Aert's time. This duel is not going to disappoint. 

Vingegaard is 16 seconds up on Pogačar at the first time check. There's still a lot of riding to go though, including the category-two climb.

Vingegaard has railed the descent of the first uncategorised climb, hitting speeds of around 80km/h. This is going to be a one-two for him and Pogačar at the finish line.  

Chapeau to Simon Yates, too. The Brit smiles as he comes through the third time check, just three seconds down on Wout van Aert. He could edge a few seconds closer to a Top 5 at the end of the day. 

30 SECONDS . Vingegaard is 30 seconds up on Pogačar. There's still 10km to go. 

As expected, Pogačar goes for a bike change. He loses a handful of seconds in the process, but can he make it up with his climbing bike? 

Simon Yates comes in seven seconds down on Van Aert's time. It's likely to be a top-five placing on the day for the Jayco AlUla rider. 

50 SECONDS . Vingegaard's gap has extended to 50 seconds. If he holds this, he'll have a minute's advantage over Pogačar at the end of the day. 

The third time check confirms it. Vingegaard is 1-05 up on Pogačar. This is not only the Dane's stage to lose, it's his Tour de France to lose, too. 

2km to go for Pogačar now, but it's damage limitation time. 

Vingegaard's advantage is now in excess of 1-20. Wow. 

Pogačar finishes with a 34.14. 

Jonas Vingegaard wins stage 16!

Just seconds after Pogačar crosses the line, Vingegaard follows suit. The Dane stretches out his GC advantage by a whopping 1-38, and is well on the way to his second Tour de France title. 

Some ride by the reigning champion today, who was a level above the rest of the field. 

Hold tight, I'll have a full race report up soon. 

Here's the full report from stage 16: Jonas Vingegaard powers closer to Tour de France title with dominant stage 16 time trial victory

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Tour de France 2023 Stage 16 recap: Jonas Vingegaard smashes Tadej Pogacar in emphatic TT win

• Overall standings

Updated 18/07/2023 at 17:32 GMT

Vingegaard obliterates Pogacar in ITT to take huge step towards title

18/07/2023 at 17:29

Vingegaard 'puts Tour to bed' with stunning time trial victory

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Tour de France: Patrick Konrad wins stage 16 – as it happened

A superbly judged solo break won Patrick Konrad his first Tour de France stage on a day when nothing much changed in the general classification

• 13 Jul 2021 Patrick Konrad wins stage 16!
• 13 Jul 2021 Hello world!

Right then, that’s all from me. A superbly judged solo break from Patrick Konrad brought him his first Tour de France stage win, but it was a day when nothing changed in the GC standings. Here’s Jeremy Whittle’s report. Bye!

Patrick Konrad of the Bora Hansgrohe team took a solo victory in the second Pyrenean stage of this year’s Tour de France, from Pas de la Casa to Saint-Gaudens. The Austrian rider broke clear of his breakaway companions, four kilometres from the summit of the stage’s steepest climb, the Col de Portet d’Aspet, to seal his first Tour stage win three days after he finished second, on stage 14 to Quillan, and five days after his team mate Nils Pollitt won in Nimes. Although Konrad was pursued by a group of nine riders in the closing kilometres, the Austrian national road race champion, who finished eighth in last year’s Giro d’Italia, held on to seal the biggest win of his career.

Much more here:

Here’s William Fotheringham’s preview of tomorrow’s stage, 178.4km from Muret to Sant-Lary-Soulan:

The first of two mountain-top finishes that should decide the race. There’s a lengthy, flattish preamble where a large break should gain several minutes – in recent years these have involved as many as 30 riders – while the final 50kms includes a daunting trio of passes, culminating in the hardest finish of the Tour, the super-steep 10 miles to the Col de Portet. López, Roglic and Pogacar will be the main men here, and the stage win should go to the best climber out of the break – a rider like Gaudu.

Tadej Pogacar talks about the late attack that peeled off the front of the peloton. “I don’t know what happened at the end. I just followed the wheels,” he says. “I’ve no idea what we were doing.” As for tomorrow, he says “I’m not worried, but it’s going to be a really hard day.” If anyone wants to eat into his lead, they’d better het their knives and forks out.

The first 10 across the line in today’s stage were:

Mark Cavendish has finished the stage, well within the cutoff.

Patrick Konrad is chuffed:

It’s my first stage win. I’m really speachless. This victory is of course for my family, my friends, for all my believers, and also for BORA-Hansgrohe. They always gave me trust, they told me to fight for it. It came really in the right moment. To win a stage here makes me really proud. I was already three times in the break, and I was always waiting really until the final, and it was always not the best decision, because [other people] went really early, and I said to myself, ‘OK, when I come one more time in this situation I am the guy.’ I gave it a try, and I’m really happy I had the legs and made it until the finish. When I passed the 1km line, I saw the uphill part and thought, ‘Agh, this could be painful again.’ But there was time to celebrate. I really believed in it with 500m to go. I’m super, super happy, and I think I can really enjoy this moment now.

Pogacar has now finished the stage, lead safely protected.

It looks like 16 people have followed Geschke in a breakaway group, but unfortunately for fans of intrigue and upset, all of the GC top 10 riders are in it.

Simon Geschke and Guillaume Martin of Cofidis try to break clear of the yellow jersey group, and as it responds the group is tugged loose. Potential for some late-breaking interest here!

“Very strange stage,” says Bradley Wiggins. “There’s not many stages like that where you get a chance to take it to Pogacar, but there was nothing. Let’s hope tomorrow’s better than today was.”

The yellow jersey group is still 8.5km away from the finish line, and in no apparent hurry to get there.

Over the last kilometre or so Pierre-Luc Périchon pulls clear of the chasers in search of second place, but he’s overhauled on the line and both Sonny Colbrelli and Michael Matthews cross it before him!

Patrick Konrad wins stage 16!

Patrick Konrad wraps up his first grand tour stage victory! The last 600m is a solo celebration for the Austrian 29-year-old, whose solo breakaway started with about 35km to go, and was never hauled in.

1.5km to go: This will be BORA-hansgrohe’s second stage win on this year’s Tour. Only Mark Cavendish’s Deceuninck-QuickStep have won more.

3km to go: Konrad’s lead is just below a minute. If he stays on his bike he wins the stage.

4.5km to go: This is Konrad’s stage, that’s been clear for a while and getting clearer. “Matthews wants the finish points to enable him to take green jersey off Cavendish tomorrow (or day after),” notes Steve Green.

6.8km to go: Gaudu launches himself off the front of the chasing group, but he can’t sustain the effort. Konrad meanwhile is over the top of the Cote d’Aspret-Sarrat, and it’s all downhill from here.

7km to go: Konrad is stretching his lead, even though he’s hit the meat of the Cote d’Aspret-Sarrat and nobody else quite has.

8km to go: Pogacar and his entire band of UAE teammates are at the front of the peloton, pretty happy with the way this is going. His lead does not look likely to be remotely threatened today.

10km to go: Konrad’s lead isn’t shrinking significantly. It’s 1min 3sec as I type, but there’s a group of nine behind him who are looking hungry.

13km to go: Gaudu and Colbrelli appear to have been caught by seven others, including Michael Matthews and Jan Bakelants. They are a minute and six seconds behind Konrad.

15km to go: “It appears to me that there’s some Thrilling Heroics happening,” writes MalicousA, “and Gaudu could very well be reaching into The Bag and getting Proper Ready to do this.” Well I for one am completely up for seeing what thrilling heroics David Gaudu has in The Bag.

16km to go: Konrad leads by a minute now. If he can handle the Côte d’Aspret-Sarrat, the stage could well be his.

18km to go: Patrick Konrad has a 40sec gap at the front, with Gaudu and Colbrelli behind him.

19km to go: Next up is the day’s final climb, the category four Côte d’Aspret-Sarrat, the smallest categorised climb of this year’s Tour.

21km to go: The peloton has just gone over the top of the Col de Portet d’Aspet, about 12km behind the leaders.

24km to go: A memorable image from the last time the Tour visited Saint-Guadens, where today’s stage finishes.

29km to go: Another damp descent follows. Gaudu and Colbrelli might have to wait until the gradient eases before they really start eating into Konrad’s lead.

33km to go: Konrad goes over the top of the Col de Portet-d’Aspet. Behind him, there’s all sorts going on, but Sonny Colbrelli and David Gaudu have attacked and are about 25 seconds back.

35km to go: Patrick Konrad has set off on his own!

🇦🇹 @PatricKonrad goes solo! 🇦🇹 Patrick Konrad s'en va seul ! Le champion d'Autriche attaque et lâche ses compagnons d'échappée ! #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/mCP9vvmH4b — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 13, 2021

39km to go: They are through Orgibet, and about 6km from the top of the climb. Here’s a handy visualisation:

🔎 The riders are now tackling the climb up the Col de Portet-d'Aspet. Discover its 3D profile. 🔎 Les leaders s'attaquent à l'ascension au Col de Portet-d'Aspet. Découvrez le profil 3D de l'ascension. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/BYKGoXzUtk — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 13, 2021

43km to go: They are now on their way up the Col du Portet d’Aspet. Here’s a William Fotheringham article from 2005 on the climb and it’s unhappy history:

A little further down, where there is space between the cliff face and the stream, stands the large marble memorial to the 1992 Olympic champion Fabio Casartelli, who crashed here on July 18 1995 and died of massive head injuries. Every day on the Tour there are accidents; most are banal. This was a reminder that the margins between life and death on the race are very narrow indeed. The Tour has a small number of holy places and the Portet d’Aspet is one of them. Cycling fans come here to pay tribute, leaving their offerings - those hats, bottles and flowers - as they do at the Tom Simpson memorial on the Mont Ventoux and the statue of Fausto Coppi on the Col d’Izoard. These are places of pilgrimage: the Tour’s noble dead serve as a symbol for the sacrifices and suffering of all who have attempted the world’s greatest bike race.

53km to go: They are speeding down this descent, and will soon be on their way up another thing, the Portet d’Aspet. They’re about to reach a place called Orgibet, which sounds a lot like an online gambling company but is in fact a village of some 200 inhabitants.

65km to go: Patrick Konrad was first over the hill, and there’s now another tricky descent to deal with. Full point allocation as follows:

• Patrick Konrad, 10 pts
• Bakelants, 8 pts
• Doubey, 6 pts
• Colbrelli, 4 pts
• Bonnamour, 2 pts
• Gaudu, 1 pt

69km to go: The leaders are only 15 seconds away from the chasers, and between them there are 12 riders, with the peloton nearly seven minutes behind.

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