Saint-Gaudens, Jul 14 (IANS): Austrias Patrick Konrad broke away from the pack with 132 kms to go to win Stage 16 of the Tour de France, beating Italian Sonny Colbrelli and Australia's Michael Matthews for his first stage win on the prestigious multi-stage cycling race.
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, however, retained the yellow jersey given to the overall leader.
"It was quite a hectic day," Pogacar said after the 16th stage. "We started in super cold weather, then the fight for the breakaway was again really big in the first two hours until it settled down," he added.
Britain's Mark Cavendish, who is eyeing a record 35th stage win, finished 23 minutes behind the winner Konrad.
Stage 16 results
1. Patrick Konrad (Austria/BORA-hansgrohe) 4hours 01minutes 59seconds
2. Sonny Colbrelli (Italy/Bahrain Victorious) +42secs
3. Michael Matthews (Australia/Team BikeExchange) Same time
4. Pierre-Luc Perichon (France/Cofidis)
5.Franck Bonnamour (France/B&B Hotels)
Overall leaders after Stage 16
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia/UAE Team Emirates) 66hours 23minutes 06seconds
2. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/EF Education) +5mins 18secs
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Jumbo) +5mins 32secs
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecuador/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 33secs
5. Ben O'Connor (Australia/AG2R Citroen) +5mins 58secs