Tour de France Stage 16 Results

Ruben Plaza Scores First Tour Victory over Peter Sagan in Gap

Ruben Plaza, Lampre - Merida, won Stage 16 for his first Tour stage victory. Peter Sagan, Tinkoff-Saxo, tried to catch him on the descent from the Col de Manse and the run into Gap. Sagan came in second place again, gaining points in the Green Jersey Competition over André Greipel, Lotto-Soudal.  MTN-Qhubeka is in second place in the team competition. A remarkable position for the wild-card team on its first Tour. The GC competition remained the same at the top, with Tony Gallopin falling out of the top 10 to eleventh place overall with a poor performance on the Col de Manse.

The 210 km Stage 16 from Bourg-de-Peage to Gap brings the Tour peloton to the French Alps closing out the second third of the race. This stage is the second longest stage of the Tour on the day before the second rest day. It was another hot day, about 30 degrees C (86 F). The last time the Tour included the Col de Manse, in 2013, the Alberto Contador, Tinkoff-Saxo, attacked Chris Froome on the descent, the day after his remarkable victory on Mont Ventoux. In response to the fan attacks on Team Sky, security around the team has been increased including the team bus.
Peter Sagan, Tinkoff-Saxo, was in the 12 man breakaway at the 20 km point of the stage. Sagan placed first in the intermediate sprint in Die, gaining 20 points in the Green Jersey competition. At the 80 km mark, the following chase group of 11 riders joined the first breakaway group forming a 23 rider lead group 10 minutes ahead of the peloton.
Chris Froome has lost a team member today, Peter Kennaugh, abandoned the Tour today due to illness. Greg Van Avermaet, BMC Racing Team, left the Tour today for the birth of his child. So Tejay Van Garderen has lost a teammate today as well.
The breakaway group of 23 riders was 13 minutes ahead at the 53 km (33 mile) mark of the stage. Attacks within the breakaway group began with 50 km (30 mile) to go.
Adam Hansen, Lotto-Soudal, and Marco Haller, Team Katusha, pulled 30 seconds ahead of the breakaway group with 35 km to go. This attack was just before the tough climb up the Col de Manse. The peloton is over 15 minutes behind. The top GC contenders are riding together in the peloton.
The attacks continued during the climb up the 9 km (5.4 mile) Col de Manse while the peloton fell 20 minutes behind. Ruben Plaza, Lampre - Merida, pulled to one minute in front of the breakaway group at the top of the climb. Peter Sagan flew down the descent to try and catch Plaza before the finish line. Vincenzo Nibali,  Astana Pro Team, attacked the peloton with 10 km to go and built a small lead over Froome and Team Sky. Geraint Thomas, Team Sky, crashed on the descent, hitting a pole and slipping down a hill. Thomas recovered and came back to finish only 30 seconds behind the Froome group.

Stage 16 Results

1.
Ruben Plaza
Lampre - Merida
04h 30' 10''
2.
Peter Sagan
Tinkoff-Saxo
04h 30' 40''
+ 00' 30''
3.
Jarlinson Pantano
IAM Cycling
04h 30' 46''
+ 00' 36''
4.
Simon Geschke
Team Giant-Alpecin
04h 30' 50''
+ 00' 40''
5.
Bob Jungels
Trek Factory Racing
04h 30' 50''
+ 00' 40''
6.
Christophe Riblon
AG2R La Mondiale
04h 30' 50''
+ 00' 40''
7.
Daniel Teklehaimanot
MTN-Qhubeka
04h 31' 03''
+ 00' 53''
8.
Thomas De Gendt
Lotto-Soudal
04h 31' 10''
+ 01' 00''
9.
Luis Angel Mate
Cofidis, Solutions Credits
04h 31' 32''
+ 01' 22''
10.
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
04h 31' 32''
+ 01' 22''


Green Jersey Competition

1.
Peter Sagan

Tinkoff-Saxo
405 pts
2.
André Greipel

Lotto-Soudal
316 pts
3.
John Degenkolb

Team Giant-Alpecin
264 pts
4.
Mark Cavendish

Etixx-Quick Step
192 pts


Team Standings

1.
Movistar Team
ESP
195h 23' 31''
2.
MTN-Qhubeka
RSA
195h 44' 21''
+ 20' 50''
3.
Tinkoff-Saxo
RUS
195h 53' 07''
+ 29' 36''
4.
Team Sky
GBR
195h 56' 19''
+ 32' 48''
5.
Astana Pro Team
KAZ
195h 59' 42''
+ 36' 11''


Yellow Jersey Competition

1.
Chris Froome
Team Sky
64h 47' 16''
2.
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
64h 50' 26''
+ 03' 10''
3.
Tejay Van Garderen
BMC Racing Team
64h 50' 48''
+ 03' 32''
4.
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
64h 51' 18''
+ 04' 02''
5.
Alberto Contador
Tinkoff-Saxo
64h 51' 39''
+ 04' 23''
6.
Geraint Thomas
Team Sky
64h 52' 48''
+ 05' 32''
7.
Robert Gesink
Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
64h 53' 39''
+ 06' 23''
8.
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
64h 55' 05''
+ 07' 49''
9.
Bauke Mollema
Trek Factory Racing
64h 56' 09''
+ 08' 53''
10.
Warren Barguil
Team Giant-Alpecin
64h 58' 19''
+ 11' 03''

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