Stage 16 seemed to be more about the is he/isn't he discussion about Chris Froome and doping that is going on in the background of this years Tour de France. And while those rumors simmered in the back ground, Rui Costa rode to a breakaway victory on the 168km road in to Gap. Costa broke away from his breakaway rivals on the day's final climb, and had enough in hand on the down hill finish to win by over 40 seconds. Christophe Riblon and Arnold Jeannesson made it double French dose on the podium after leading the remnants of the breakaway home.
The battle of the GC was partially lit up on the day's final climb as Katusha put the \hammer down in order to set something up for Joaquin Rodriguez. But that just resulted in Sky coming to the fore, and once they'd done their usual trick of blowing the field to pieces there was only a select group of riders remaining in the lead group. They included the current top 3, and despite Alberto Contador trying to shake off his rivals a number of times he was repeatedly chase down by first Richie Porte and then Froome himself. They all went over the top together though, and a truce had to be called on the descent, as Froome and Contador almost crashed out, bringing back memories one of the all time great tour moments when Joseba Beloki infamously hit the tarmac in the 2003 edition.
And while Froome crashing out would have really spiced up the race, sadly it wasn't to be (although Contador did hit the deck), and the group of favourites cruised home on the rest of the decent to finish over 11 minutes behind Costa. There was no change to any of the classifications - and tomorrow sees the second ITT of this years race - in which Chris Froome is sure to just add more time to his already unassailable lead.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
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