White jersey Adam Yates (GBR/Orica-BikeExchange) in the village of Flumet
Photo gallery: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 20
Photography by Cor Vos, Kristof Ramon, Jered & Ashley Gruber
The penultimate stage of the 2016 Tour de France finished with a precarious descent of the Col de la Joux Plane Saturday in pouring rain, and at the bottom, Ion Izagirre (Movistar) demonstrated world-class descending skills to take the first victory for Spain at this year’s Tour.
“There were many quality riders in our breakaway group, so we’re very happy to finish ahead of them and win the stage,” Izagirre said. “Beating Nibali in a downhill is something that counts in a career, but Pantano also descends very well. I’m super happy. We came here with the Sueño Amarillo (yellow dream), but Froome was the strongest. At the end of the day, we’re happy with a spot on the podium [Quintana’s third], a stage win and the team classification victory.”
Race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) sealed the Tour de France title for the third time, as most of the general classification contenders finished together in what appeared to be a bit of a stalemate. Froome’s maillot jaune shown brightly in the rain and a smile crossed the Briton’s face as he crossed the finish, a shake of his head reflected his disbelief that he had won the Tour again.
“I’m pretty sore, all my knee and my back, but my legs were better today than yesterday after the crash,” Froome said. “I had that four minutes gap to play with. It gave me a breathing space. I just had to stay in front. It’s a huge relief to cross that finish line. The last 24 hours have been pretty chaotic but my teammates helped me so much to keep the yellow jersey on my shoulders. It’s an amazing feeling [to win the Tour]. It could be like the first one again.”
Read the full stage 20 race report, highlight video, and results here.
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- Jarlinson Pantano (COL/IAM) at the barber in the Village DÈpart before the stage
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- Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) had medical tape around his knee for the stage. He crashed heavily the day before on stage 19. Photo: Cor Vos
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- The race had a minute silence before the start to honor the victims of the tragic shooting in Munich, Germany. Photo: Cor Vos
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- Mollema was dropped on the penultimate climb, but took risks in the wet conditions and rejoined the peloton before the Col de la Joux Plane. Photo: Cor Vos
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- White jersey Adam Yates (GBR/Orica-BikeExchange) in the village of Flumet
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- Jarlinson Pantano (IAM) and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) began the Joux Plane with nearly a two minute advantage over the chasers. Both have been active at the front of the race this past week. Photo: Cor Vos
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- “The Shark of Messina,” Vincenze Nibali (Astana), was at home in the wet conditions, but he couldn’t seal the deal in the end. He finished third on the stage. Photo: Cor Vos
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- The wet conditions slipped added to the drama of the final mountain stage of the 2016 Tour de France. Photo: Cor Vos
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- Ion Izagirre (Movistar) powered up the Joux Plane to rejoin the leaders and put himself in a position to have a chance at the stage win. Photo: Cor Vos
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- Izagirre demonstrated superior bike handling down the slick descent of the Col du Joux Plane to take the Stage 20 victory ahead of Pantano at the 2016 Tour de France. Photo: Cor Vos
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- Chris Froome (Team Sky) couldn’t resist a smile as he crossed the finish line on stage 20. Photo: Cor Vos
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- It was one climb too many for Fabio Aru (center). The Astana rider cracked on the Joux Plane and fell from sixth to 13th overall. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) even offered his support as he rode across the line. Photo: Cor Vos
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- Peter Sagan (SVK/Tinkoff) diving into the treacherous descent off the Col de Joux Plane towards the finish in Morzine
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- Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) was awarded the Tour’s Super Combative prize during the stage. The prize is for the Tour’s most aggressive rider. Photo: Cor Vos
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- Per tradition, the winner’s press conference was held after the penultimate stage. Photo: Cor Vos
