Crash sees Froome finish stage 19 on his teammate's bike and extends his lead

Romain Bardet posted the first French victory at this year's Tour after a solo breakaway before the final ascent of Le Bettex

Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains, France, 22nd July 2016 - Chris Froome crashed on the descent before the final climb of Le Bettex today. He had to borrow team mate Geriant Thomas's bike to continue.

Froome struggled on Thomas' bike. With a ripped his jersey and cuts and bruises his opponents smelt blood and on the 10km attacks came quick and sharp from Porte, Aru and Quintana.

Froome buried himself to hang on, but the relentless attacks saw some of his rivals stay clear in the final kilometres. He still managed to finish only 36 seconds behind Romain Bardet, who posted the first French victory at this year's Tour after a solo breakaway.

Bardet had attacked on the descent moments before Froome crashed in heavy rain.

Losers

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) were the big loosers losing 2nd and 3rd respectively on overall GC as Roman Bardet moved into second place 2nd 4m 11s behind Froome and Quintana moved into 3rd place 4m 27s .

Froome extended his lead from 3m 52 to 4m 11s on that change.

Stage 19, Top 10

1. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, in 4:14:08
2. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, TEAM KATUSHA, at :23
3. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :23
4. Louis MEINTJES, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :23
5. Nairo Alexander QUINTANA ROJAS, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :26
6. Fabio ARU, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :28
7. Daniel MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :28
8. Wout POELS, TEAM SKY, at :36
9. Christopher FROOME, TEAM SKY, at :36
10. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING TEAM, at :53

Top-10 overall after Stage 19

1. Christopher FROOME, TEAM SKY, in 82:10:37
2. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 4:11
3. Nairo Alexander QUINTANA ROJAS, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 4:27
4. Adam YATES, OBE, at 4:36
5. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING TEAM, at 5:17
6. Fabio ARU, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 6:00
7. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 6:20
8. Louis MEINTJES, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 7:02
9. Daniel MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 7:10
10. Bauke MOLLEMA, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 7:42