Stage 19

The road

How it was won

1. 1122 km to go

   Ambushed on the Col du Chaussy

   Movistar, Tinkoff and Astana attack the first climb of the day as if it were the last, and the peloton is left in shards across the mountainside. Froome is isolated almost at once and Geraint Thomas is already in serious trouble; Rodríguez leads over the top.

2. 261 km to go

   A stone in Froome's brake

   Six kilometres from the summit of the Croix de Fer the yellow jersey has to stop: a stone has lodged in his rear brake. Ahead, Vincenzo Nibali turns to look back at him. Twice. Then he goes — 62 kilometres from the finish, alone, and the road behind him erupts in argument about whether he should have.

3. 355 km to go

   Over the Croix de Fer

   Nibali crests within a minute of the escapee Rolland and fifty seconds up on the yellow jersey group, and keeps taking time on the long sinuous descent. Thomas, fourth overall this morning, is gone for good and will lose more than twenty-two minutes.

4. 435 km to go

   Nibali catches Rolland

   Just over the top of the Col du Mollard the Sicilian arrives on the Frenchman's wheel with 1:47 on the Froome group, and survives a scare on a tight right-hander halfway down the other side.

5. 516 km to go

   Sixteen kilometres of La Toussuire

   At the base of the final climb the buffer is still intact. Nibali lifts himself out of the saddle, eases past Rolland, and is never seen again.

6. 66 km to go

   Quintana finally jumps

   Majka's tempo has smothered everything until now. Then Poels is dropped, Froome is alone, and with just under six kilometres left Quintana goes — Froome first tries to close it with Contador and Valverde on his wheel, then gives chase by himself.

7. 7At the line

   Nibali redeemed, Froome bleeding

   Nibali wins alone at La Toussuire, a day of racing that repays a wretched three weeks. Quintana takes back thirty seconds and, for the first time, the Tour has a question in it again.

The result