Tour de France standings 2016: Jarlinson Pantano wins the opening Alps stage

Jarlinson Pantano won the opening Alps stage of the 2016 Tour de France, catching Rafał Majka on the descent from the Lacets de Colombier and outdueling him to the line. The stage win was the first of his career in his first Tour ever. He was one of the few riders to survive a big breakaway from the start of the stage.

The top 10 of the general classification stayed steady despite the difficulty of the stage. The yellow jersey group containing Chris Froome was small at the finish, but it contained Nairo Quintana, Adam Yates, Bauke Mollema, Alejandro Valverde, Romain Bardet and anyone else who might think he can still pass Froome. Tejay Van Garderen couldn’t hang, dropping off on the final climb to lose 1’28” at the finish and falling two spots on the classification.

The early stage chaos shook out a 30-man breakaway from the peloton. Rafal Majka won the first climb, the Col du Berthiand, to take 10 points in the King of the Mountains competition. He tied Thomas de Gendt atop the classification by taking second over the Col du Sappel (coming in behind Thomas Voeckler, who will be stealing KoM points on his deathbed).

Tom Dumoulin broke out of the breakaway on the Col de Richemond with 70 kilometers to go. Three riders bridged before the base of the hors categorie Grand Colombier — Jarlinson Pantano, Domenico Pozzovivo and Vincenzo Nibali — breaking truce and setting up the battle for a stage win.

Out of the jumble of Grand Colombier, two leaders emerged. Majka took the summit and a big lead as the virtual wearer of the polka dot jersey. Ilnur Zakarin was on his wheel, with Julian Alaphilippe and Pantano not far behind, just under a minute ahead of any chasers.

More than six minutes back, Fabio Aru and Team Astana agitated the peloton, laying a brisk pace just in front of the Sky train containing Froome. Young riders like Yates and Warren Barguil struggled, but the peloton remained intact up and over Grand Colombier. Up to the base of the final climb, the Lacets du Colombier, Astana was four-strong at the head of the group.

At the front of the race, Majka swatted at Zakarin and took the last summit. Zakarin appeared to crack, pulling off on the side of the road. Behind, Aru and Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde broke out of the whittled yellow jersey group and dared a chase, but were pulled back. Romain Bardet also tried to get clear but couldn’t. Froome looked unbothered. At one point up the final climb, he pulled out to the side and made a false attack just to make his rivals shudder.

Majka struggled on a narrow, technical descent, nearly crashing at one point. Pantano chased him down without much trouble, closing a 17-second gap from the summit. When the yellow jersey group — now 14 riders — hit the false flat descent to the finish, Majka and Pantano were roughly four minutes ahead, dueling to the line. Majka made the first move after the flamme rouge — too early. Pantano glided over the finish line, arms raised, a few feet ahead of the gassed Tinkoff rider.

Tour de France Stage 15 top 10

1. Jarlinson Pantano - 4h 24’29”

2. Rafal Majka

3. Alexis Vuillermoz + 6”

4. Sebastien Reichenback + 6”

5. Julian Alaphilippe + 22”

6. Serge Pauwels + 25”

7. Pierre Rolland + 25”

8. Ilnur Zakarin + 1’30”

9. Daniel Navarro + 1’30”

10. Tom-Jelte Slagter + 2’08”

Tour de France general classification to 10 after Stage 15

1. Chris Froome

2. Bauke Mollema + 1’47”

3. Adam Yates + 2’45”

4. Nairo Quintana + 2’49”

5. Alejandro Valverde + 3’17”

6. Romain Bardet + 4’04”

7. Richie Porte + 4’27”

8. Tejay Van Garderen + 4’47”

9. Daniel Martin + 5’03”

10. Fabio Aru + 5’16”