Tour de France standings 2016: Chris Froome wins time trial and all but seals yellow jersey

Stage 18 of the Tour de France seemed tailor-made for Chris Froome. He proved it by dominating Thursday’s time trial, finishing with a time of 30 minutes and 43 seconds on the 17-kilometer course from Sallanches to Megève, beating second-place Tom Dumoulin by 21 seconds.

Dumoulin, the Dutch time trial national champion and winner of the Tour’s earlier time trial, was the other favorite to win, but the more climbing-focused course tilted the odds in Froome’s favor. He took even more time from his general classification contenders, most of whom are great climbers but don’t have Froome’s time trialing acumen.

Fabio Aru just edged out Richie Porte by less than a second to finish third, 33 seconds back of Froome. Both riders gained a lot of time as they make their later runs for the final podium in Paris. Aru moved up to seventh place on the general classification, passing Alejandro Valverde.

Nairo Quintana once again lost time, finishing 10th at 1’10” back from the stage winner. He continues to fall short of expectations at the 2016 Tour, and is now in real danger of finishing off the podium for the first time in his career. He is still in fourth place overall, but Porte, Aru and fifth-place Romain Bardet all gained time on the Colombian rider.

Tour de France Stage 18 Top 10

1. Chris Froome - 30’43”

2. Tom Dumoulin + 21”

3. Fabio Aru + 33”

4. Richie Porte + 33”

5. Romain Bardet + 44”

6. Thomas de Gendt + 1’02”

7. Jon Izaguirre + 1’03”

8. Joaquim Rodríguez + 1’05”

9. Louis Meintjes + 1’08”

10. Jérôme Coppel + 1’10”

Tour de France general classification top 10 after Stage 18

1. Chris Froome

2. Bauke Mollema + 3’52”

3. Adam Yates + 4’16”

4. Nairo Quintana + 4’37”

5. Romain Bardet + 4’57”

6. Richie Porte + 5’00”

7. Fabio Aru + 6’08”

8. Alejandro Valverde + 6’37”

9. Louis Meintjes + 7’15”

10. Daniel Martin + 7’18”