Photo gallery: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 19
Photography by Cor Vos, Jered & Ashley Gruber
Rain and mountain descents made for a wild day at the Tour de France Friday, as Roman Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) took the Stage 19 win and moved from fifth overall into second, Chris Froome (Team Sky) crashed and finished, bloodied, on a teammate’s bike, and second-placed Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) imploded while chasing back from a crash, losing any hope of a podium finish in Paris.
“I’m over the moon,” Bardet said. “It’s beautiful to ride a bike instinctively. This attack was absolutely not planned. It’s been a flash in [Ag2r teammate] Mikaël Chérel’s mind. He said ‘let’s go flat out in the downhill.’ Climbing to the finishing line was pure emotions. I watched the public in the eyes and shared the emotions with the people. We’re humans and humans need emotions. I ran away from any kind of calculation today.”
Bardet attacked on the run-in to the final climb of the day, as rain-slicked roads saw many riders hit the deck including Froome. The maillot jaune would finish the stage on teammate Geraint Thomas’ bike.
“It’s ironic, I was just trying to stay up front and out of trouble, and I hit one of the white painted lines, and I lost my front wheel,” Froome said. “I’m okay. I’m lucky I’m not seriously injured. I lost a bit of skin, and I banged my knee, but this is the kind of day where I’m grateful to have a four-minute advantage to fall back on.”
Read the full stage 19 race report, highlight video, and results here.
- The UCI has continued to check hundreds of bikes every day for motors. Photo: Cor Vos
- Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) was on water bottle duty for the mountainous stage. Photo: Cor Vos
- The peloton riding along Lake Annecy during the stage. Photo: Cor Vos
- Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) crashed heavily on his left wrist and abandoned the race. It’s unclear what this means for his bid for the Rio Olympic ITT. Photo: Cor Vos
- Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) descended away from the other GC contenders off the penultimate climb and began the final climb chasing the lone leader Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida). Photo: Cor Vos
- Dumoulin is reported to have a broken wrist and has left his start in the Olympic games in doubt. Photo: Cor Vos
- Chris Froome (Team Sky) crashed on the descent off the penultimate climb and finished the stage on teammate Geraint Thomas’ bike. Photo: Cor Vos
- Bardet took his second career Tour de France stage win in Saint-Gervais at the base of Mont Blanc. Photo: Gruber Images
- Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) has been a loyal lieutenant to Nairo Quintana during the Tour. The Spaniard finished third overall at the Giro d’Italia and Quintana is poised to finish on the podium at the Tour after stage 19. Photo: Gruber Images
- Bardet moved up to second overall with one mountain stage remaining. Photo: Cor Vos
- Froome was thankful to have Wout Poels for controlling the pace and guiding him all the way to the finish.
- Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) dropped from second overall to tenth on stage 19 after his crash. Photo: Cor Vos.
- Pierre Rolland (Cannondal-Drapac) crashed hard again on his left side, but said after the stage he plans to ride into Paris. Photo: Gruber Images
- Daniel Teklehaimonot (Dimension Data) crashed with Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin) but managed to finish the stage without serious injuries.
- Mollema was in high demand after the stage after his dramatic collapse in the GC. Photo: Cor Vos
- The groupetto finishing the stage 30 minutes after the lead GC group.
- Ramunas Navardauskas (Cannondale-Drapac) has a bit of fun as he nears the finish. Photo: Gruber Images