GAP, France (AP) — Portuguese rider Rui Costa won the 16th stage of the Tour de France, and Chris Froome maintained his healthy lead over Alberto Contador as both survived a downhill scare Tuesday.
Costa broke away on the last climb of a hilly trek to secure the second stage win of his Tour career, crossing the line 42 seconds ahead of Christophe Riblon.
In the sprint for second place, Riblon beat Arnold Jeannesson, Jerome Coppel and German veteran Andreas Kloeden.
Froome and Contador finished more than 11 minutes behind Costa, who is not considered to be a contender for overall victory.
About halfway up the day’s final climb, Contador attacked, but Richie Porte responded and got Sky teammate Froome back on Contador’s wheel.
On the descent, they were both in difficulty on a sharp right turn as the Brit chased the Spaniard. Froome went off the left side of the road and had to plant his left foot on the ground to stop from toppling off as his right leg wheeled up into the air. Contador also lost balance and hit his knee on the ground before quickly jumping back up on the bike.
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