Alaphilippe wins a second stage marred by pepper spray protest 

Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe won an eventful stage 16 at the Tour de France after Britain's Adam Yates crashed on the final descent

Quick-Step Floors' rider kicked off week three with a bang, taking his second win and extending the lead in the KOM standings.

Alaphilippe produced another magnificent performance as he overcome a nervous stage, peppered with road incidents, three hard climbs and some stomach twisting descents on his way to another impressive victory, which came with a well-deserved bonus: an increased margin in the mountain classification, with just two tough stages left between here and Paris.

Yates attacked the breakaway on the final climb alone but fell on the descent 7km before the finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon.

Alaphilippe powered round a shaken Yates to win his second stage. Team Sky's Geraint Thomas kept the yellow jersey and leads fellow Briton and team-mate Chris Froome by one minute 39 seconds.

The race was delayed 29km into the 218km stage from Carcassonne after a protest by French farmers. Hay bales were thrown across the road,  police appeared to use  pepper spray on protesters, which then blew into the peloton.

Some riders, including Team Sky's Thomas and Froome, stopped and doused their eyes with water.

The race was delayed for 15 minutes while riders received medical attention, before a large group broke clear, from which Alaphilippe attacked throughout, extending his lead in the polka dot jersey mountains classification.

Tomorrow' Stage 17 is one of the most feared stages in this year's race. At only 65 kilometers, the peloton will climb the Peyragudes, the Col de Val Louron-Azet, and the new final climb of the Col de Portet at 2,215 metres which is currently unpaved.

A stage that will give the Yellow Jersey wearer multiple headaches as this stage will see full on flat out racing from the gun and multiple attacks as GC rivals line up to have a go the Yellow jersey. The sprinters will just want to survive and the GC's domestique's will have an almost impossible task of pulling for their contenders.

2018 Tour de France Stage 16 Highlights

2018 Tour de France Stage 16 Top 10

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 5:13:22 
2 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:15 
3 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott   
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo   
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:18 
6 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:37 
7 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:56 
8 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe   
9 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:10 
10 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:18

2018 Tour de France GC after Stage 16

1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 68:12:01 
2 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:39 
3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:50 
4 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:38 
5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:21 
6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:42 
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:57 
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:04:23 
9 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:06:14 
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:54