Tour de France 2015: Stage 16 Results, Latest Standings and Highlights

Ruben Plaza Molina finished solo to win Monday's Stage 16 of the 2015 Tour de France, attacking on the final climb and doing just enough to hold off Peter Sagan during the descent.

The green jersey leader was marked throughout the climb and received no help whatsoever chasing down Plaza, before putting on an incredible show on one of the most technical descents in all of cycling, the Col de Manse. Plaza may have won the stage, but Sagan's incredible ride will be what fans remember from this stage.

Cycling author Simon Warren gave the Slovak plenty of props:

ITV Cycling felt bad for Sagan, who once again finished in second place:

In the background, Geraint Thomas suffered a scary crash during the descent when Warren Barguil misjudged a corner and pushed him off the road and into a pole. Incredibly, Thomas managed to get back on his bike and finish the stage. Vincenzo Nibali clawed back a handful of seconds in the general classification.

Here are the results from Monday's stage:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Lampre-Merida	04:30:10
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	+30
3	Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling	+36
4	Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	+40
5	Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing	+40
6	Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	+40
7	Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka	+53
8	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal	+1:00
9	Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits	+1:22
10	Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar	+1:22

Sagan has undoubtedly been the most attacking rider of the peloton throughout the first two weeks, and the three-time green jersey winner was it at again on Monday. The leader in the points standings managed to sneak into an early break and grabbed all 20 points at the intermediate sprint.

Before long, the group had a significant lead on the peloton, and the Slovak, who is still waiting for his first stage win, started pushing his companions. The Tour's official Twitter account noted that he took plenty of risks in the descents:

Rafal Majka suffered a crash on the Col de Cabre, but the peloton approached the climb at a steady pace, with none of the leading riders presenting a threat in the general classification. Everyone knew the descent of the Col de Manse would be the highlight of this stage, and none of the top contenders felt like taking any risks.

Sports writer Matt Slater reminded his followers that it was the site of Joseba Beloki's horrific crash back in 2003:

He also noted Sagan didn't seem to hold back one bit during the descent of the Col de Cabre, liking his chances of finally grabbing that elusive first win:

The Tour has seen some incredible temperatures in the past few days, and Monday's stage was no different. At one point, the heat started melting down parts of the asphalt, with several riders suffering punctures or coming to a standstill in result.

Not everyone was convinced the heat was the main culprit, however. Martijn Van Schaijk, a mechanic for Team MTN-Qhubeka, posted this image of a nail:

The peloton suffered in particular, allowing the riders in the break to add to their lead ahead of the Col de Manse. By the time the group started climbing, with Adam Hansen and Marco Haller just ahead of their companions, the lead had neared 20 minutes.

Right from the base of the climb, the group fell apart. Simon Geschke attacked early, and Plaza did the same, reducing the chasing group to just five riders with Hansen still riding in front. Incredibly, Sagan managed to cling on, and as the top descender and fastest sprinter, it was vital the other riders dropped him in a hurry.

As a result, no one was willing to ride with Sagan, allowing Plaza to keep building his lead. Pro Cycling News thought the group may as well have gifted him the stage win:

Incredibly, some of the riders even had the audacity to gesture to Sagan as a reason for not working in the chase. The Slovak had seen enough, launching an attack of his own just beyond the summit and going after Plaza on his own. The gap was a full minute, however, and seemed impossible to bridge in time.

He overshot a corner that cost him several seconds, but just one kilometer into the descent, the gap had shrunk to 45 seconds. Triathlon star Chris McCormack couldn't believe what he was seeing:

Pro Cycling News weighed in on the action as well:

Sagan managed to get within 200 meters of Plaza, who wobbled over the finish line. The Slovak finished in second place for the fifth time this Tour but pounded his chest regardless as he crossed the line.

In the background, the favourites tackled the Col de Manse as well, with Alberto Contador attacking near the summit. Expert descender Nibali managed to create a small gap ahead of Team Sky, who knew they could afford to give him some space, as he sat over eight minutes behind Chris Froome in the standings.

In the descent, Barguil lost control and barged into Thomas, who was swept off the road and hit a pole during his crash. British Eurosport shared footage of the incident:

"

BANG! Bad crash for @GeraintThomas86 who's sent hurtling off the road into telegraph pole #TDF2015 #homeofcycling https://t.co/Xau74NXA0Z

— British Eurosport (@EurosportUKTV) July 20, 2015"

Fortunately, he was able to get back on his bike, according to the Inner Ring:

Thomas was able to finish under his own strength, but Neal Rogers of Global Cycling Network thought a trip to the hospital was still in order:

Via the Inner Ring, Barguil immediately apologised to Thomas:

The man himself was in good spirits and even cracked some jokes, via cycling writer Trevor Ward:

Here's a look at the latest standings:

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	405
2	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	316
3	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	264
4	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	192
5	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	122
6	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	109
7	Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step	78
8	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	77
9	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	76
10	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha	70

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	61
2	Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	52
3	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team	41
4	Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	40
5	Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	38
6	Serge Pauwels (Bel) MTN - Qhubeka	33
7	Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo	32
8	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	32
9	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	32
10	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	28

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	64:47:16
2	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	+0:03:10
3	Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	+0:03:32
4	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	+0:04:02
5	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	+0:04:23
6	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky	+0:05:32
7	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	+0:06:23
8	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	+0:07:49
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing	+0:08:53
10	Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin	+0:11:03

The peloton will enjoy a rest day in Gap on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the toughest part of this year's Tour will commence. Four days of heavy climbs in the Alps will culminate with a finish on the legendary flanks of Alpe d'Huez, before the riders make their way to Paris.

Froome remains the favourite to win this year's Tour, but Team Sky can expect to see plenty of attacks in the coming days.