Tour de France 2014: Stage 19 Winner, Results and Updated Leaderboard Standings

Ramunas Navardauskas made the most of the bad weather conditions on Friday, winning Stage 19 of the 2014 Tour de France. The Lithuanian made a jump from the peloton inside the final 10 kilometres and had his attempt aided by a massive crash in the pack.

Vincenzo Nibali comfortably remained in the yellow, and, as the crash occurred inside the final three kilometres, no top riders lost any time in the general classification.

Position	Rider	Team	Time
1	Ramunas Navardauskas	Garmin	4:43:41
2	John Degenkolb	Giant	Same Time
3	Alexander Kristoff	Katyusha	st.
4	Mark Renshaw	OPQS	st.
5	Daniele Bennati	Tinkoff-Saxo	st.
6	Alessandro Petacchi	OPQS	st.
7	Samuel Dumoulin	AG2R	st.
8	Julien Simon	Cofidis	st.
9	Sep Vanmarcke	Belkin	st.
10	Jurgen Roelandts	Lotto-Belisol	st.

The peloton was finally given a break after three days of climbing in the Pyrenees, but while the pack had been looking forward to a slow, easy stage, the weather gods decided otherwise.

As shared by Le Tour de France, conditions were dreadful for much of Stage 19:

That didn't stop the Aquitaine crowds from watching the 2014 Tour, including this little guy:

Everyone was expecting to see an early break on Friday, and five riders separated themselves from the pack within the first few kilometres. Thibaut Pinot and Peter Sagan stunned everyone by launching a counter-offensive, but their attempt was short lived.

The bad weather conditions seemed to spurn the peloton, and it didn't work in favour of the five leaders. The top teams kept the pace high in order to finish the stage as quickly as possible, opening the door for yet another mass sprint.

Marcel Kittel would have liked such a scenario, but the German had an awful day, which included a puncture and struggles on the handful of climbs the pack encountered, via Le Tour de France:

Kittel would tell his team leaders not to ride for him on the day, setting his sights on the final stage in Paris.

The peloton caught up with the five leaders inside the final 20 kilometres, but right at the summit of the Cote de Monbazillac, Navardauskas decided to go solo. The Lithuanian is an accomplished time trialist, and with eight kilometres to go, the situation played out perfectly.

The sprint teams started to look at each other, and it became clear the three consecutive days of climbing had taken their toll. The chase lacked any organisation, and Navardauskas kept building on his lead, via Le Tour de France:

Tinkoff-Saxo eventually posted themselves at the head of the peloton and they were soon joined by Omega Pharma-Quick Step, but, just as it looked like the peloton would catch Navardauskas, a big crash disrupted their tempo. Green jersey Peter Sagan was one of the riders though it didn't look like he suffered much damage.

As shared by Le Tour de France, the carnage was enormous:

Velonews' Neal Rogers couldn't believe Sagan's luck, with the points leader still looking for his first stage win in the 2014 Tour:

Navardauskas didn't care, however, finishing solo for the most beautiful stage win of his career. John Degenkolb took Kittel's train for himself and won the sprint for second, beating a decimated pack of sprinters.

Position	Rider	Team	Time
1	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana	85:29:26
2	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ	+7:10
3	Jean Christophe Peraud	Ag2R	+7:23
4	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar	+7:25
5	Romain Bardet	AG2R	+9:27
6	Tejay van Garderen	BMC Racing	+11:34
7	Bauke Mollema	Belkin	+13:56
8	Laurens ten Dam	Belkin	+14:15
9	Leopold Konig	NetApp	+14:37
10	Haimar Zubeldia	Trek	+16:25

Position	Rider	Team	Points
1	Peter Sagan	Cannondale	417
2	Brian Coquard	Europcar	253
3	Alexander Kristoff	Katyusha	217
4	Marcel Kittel	Giant	177
5	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana	169
6	Mark Renshaw	OPQS	163
7	Greg van Avermaet	BMC Racing	147
8	Andre Greipel	Lotto	143
9	Tony Gallopin	Lotto	105
10	Samuel Dumoulin	AG2R	99

Position	Rider	Team	Points
1	Rafal Majka	Tinkoff-Saxo	181
2	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana	168
3	Joaquin Rodriguez	Katyusha	112
4	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ	89
5	Jean Christophe Peraud	AG2R	85
6	Alessandro De Marchi	Cannondale	78
7	Thomas Voeckler	Europcar	61
8	Giovanni Visconti	Movistar	54
9	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar	48
10	Tejay van Garderen	BMC	48

The fans didn't end up getting the mass sprint everyone was expecting, and winner Navardauskas couldn't help himself:

His teammate Tom-Jelte Slagter was very proud of the work Garmin-Sharp put in on Friday:

Saturday's stage will be a time trial, and likely the final opportunity for any of the top contenders to make a move up in the general classification. Nibali's lead appears more than just safe, but, as we saw on Friday, harsh weather conditions could yet play a part.

The Shark of Messina won't take too many chances with a seven-minute lead, however, and the rest of the peloton will need a miracle to catch up to the 29-year-old Italian.

Sunday's stage will be the traditional short hop to Paris, with the finish line on the iconic Champs-Elysees. With the sprint teams controlling that stage for their stars, don't expect to see any movement on the leaderboard.

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