Tour de France: Hugo Houle wins stage 16 as Jonas Vingegaard ticks another day in yellow

The first day in the Pyrenees was an aggressive one, with the win falling for Israel - Premier Tech who've seen Hugo Houle taking a massive win after a daring solo move, the second of the race for the Israeli team.

A day where the breakaway knew it's chances, there was no control in the peloton as 29 riders went up the road including Wout van Aert, Brandon McNulty and Aleksandr Vlasov. A group of big hitter who went on to fight for the stage win, it was in the Port de Lers and the Mur de Péguère where the day was to be decided.

Damiano Caruso launched a move early in the climb, splitting up the group and making the selection clear between those who had the legs and those who didn't. Michael Woods and Michael Storer joined up, later to be caught by the rest of the chasing group in the descent of the Port de Lers, where Hugo Houle made his move.

The Israel - Premier Tech rider entered the steep section of the final climb with 50 seconds advantage over the chasing group, where Storer and Madouas of Groupama coordinated the chase but without success. Matteo Jorgenson was the strongest behind but 25 seconds after Houle at the summit, with Michael Woods in the wheel making it an impossible task for the American to succeed. A crash on the descent spelled destiny, with Hugo Houle arriving in Foix alone to take his most important win of a long career. Valentin Madouas sprinted to second place, with Michael Woods third.

In the peloton Enric Mas and Louis Meintjes stirred the GC fight at the Port de Lers, with Tadej Pogacar also attacking twice but being shut down by Jonas Vingegaard leading to a stalemate. Movistar Team, Rafal Majka and then Sepp Kuss paced up the Mur de Péguère as the race went by pace up the steep slopes.

The race consolidated slightly in the descent, with some gaps between the riders in the Top10 but no changes in the podium.

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