Temperatures soar on stage 16 with UAE Team Emirates’ Kristoff taking Top 10 finish

UAE Team Emirates’ Alexander Kristoff sprinted to a ninth place finish on stage 16 of the Tour de France, in what were sweltering conditions in Nimes.

With the mercury hitting highs of 38 degrees Celsius, the peloton unsurprisingly set a relatively moderate pace, with the breakaway allowed to build up a two time minute gap. Despite crosswinds providing an opportunity for riders to attack, the main group played it safe, biding their time to eventually bridge the breakaway with 2.3km to go. It was the final kilometre where the action really began to hot up, with Kristoff fighting to get into a good position. But it wasn’t to be for the Norwegian, with Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) sprinting across the line to take the stage win.

Commenting on the finish, Kristoff said: “It was a very hot day and I struggled a bit, but it was the same for everybody. Sven helped me in the final but I got boxed-in and lost a few positions. I don’t think I had the legs today anyway. I came into the last straight in a decent position but I missed that bit of energy for the last 400 metres.”

Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates’ Dan Martin and Fabio Aru moved up in the General Classification standings and sit in 13th and 16th place respectively.

On Wednesday, the Tour de France heads east and back towards the mountains for stage 17, with riders taking on a 200km route from Pont du Gard to Gap.

Stage 16 Results

1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal3:57:08

2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickSteps.t.

3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Vismas.t.

9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emiratess.t.

General Classification after stage 16

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep64:57:30

2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos0:01:35

3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma0:01:47

13 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates0:11:39

16 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates0:14:15