Tour de France 2015: Full Standings and Highlights After Stage 19 Results

Vincenzo Nibali finally showed his 2014 form Friday, winning Stage 19 of the 2015 Tour de France in impressive―and somewhat controversial―fashion. Last year's Tour winner launched an early attack just as yellow jersey Chris Froome suffered a mechanical problem, and the Italian never looked back.

Nairo Quintana dropped the main contenders for the general classification during the final climb, gaining some time on Froome. While the Team Sky man still looks like the favourite to win this year's Tour, Friday's stage showed a few cracks in his armour, and Saturday's ride to Alpe d'Huez could become very interesting.

Here are the results from Friday's stage:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	4:22:53
2	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	0:00:44
3	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	0:01:14
4	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr	0:02:26
5	Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	Same Time
6	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	Same Time
7	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing	Same Time
8	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	Same Time
9	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	Same Time
10	Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team	Same Time

Organisers have saved the best for last for this year's edition of the Tour, with four days of heavy climbing preceding the final stage toward Paris. The profile for Friday's stage promised fireworks, and with Alpe d'Huez on the schedule for Saturday, Team Sky faced a real challenge in protecting Froome's yellow jersey.

Astana, in particular, appeared determined to make life hard on the British team, increasing the pace on the Col de Chaussy earlier than expected. Nibali's 2015 Tour may have been an unmitigated disaster, but the Italian was eyeing the stage win. BBC's Matt Slater was impressed with the work of his team-mates:

Tinkoff-Saxo also showed their cards early, with Peter Sagan launching an attack just before the intermediate sprint. Team Sky struggled to contain the attacks, and Froome even fell behind Nibali, Alberto Contador and Joaquim Rodriguez briefly, before catching the trio during the descent.

At the front, Romain Bardet and Rigoberto Uran seemed to have the most juice left, but all cameras were turned on the peloton and the battle for the yellow. The dreaded Col de la Croix de Fer was next, and while Pierre Rolland tried his luck at the front, Astana started dictating the tempo again in the main group.

As shared by David Walsh of the Sunday Times, Froome lost one of his top domestiques early, as Geraint Thomas' legs finally gave in after weeks of racing:

The Welshman has been one of the revelations of this year's Tour and played a big role in Froome's ascent in the general classification, but all the hard work took its toll Friday. Nibali and Alejandro Valverde noticed Froome was isolated in the main group, and with 60 kilometres left to go, the yellow jersey appeared to be in trouble.

Both attacked, and at the worst possible time, this happened, per the Tour's official Twitter account:

Nibali broke one of the unwritten rules of cycling by attacking the yellow jersey in such a situation, but as noted by Contador Notebook, former professional cyclist Jens Voigt thought it may have been an accident:

Cool as ever, Froome never panicked and swiftly resolved the issue with his bike before returning to the main group in a hurry. Only Nibali was able to gain a significant advantage, building a 30-second gap while Froome returned.

The gap had grown to 49 seconds at the summit, and during the descent, Froome's position came under further pressure. Valverde sneaked out of the group, forcing Froome to try to close the gap along with Wout Poels, who had returned from the background. Superb technician Nibali started gaining time on Rolland, who was still riding solo at the front of the race.

Cycling author Michael Hutchinson didn't like the look on Froome's face at all:

With Nibali creeping ever closer to Rolland on the Col du Mollard, the riders in Froome's group kept quiet. Movistar dictated the pace, and it looked as if the team were preparing for a major attack during the final climb.

Rolland took top honours at the summit of the Col du Mollard before he was caught by Nibali, and the Italian immediately urged his French colleague to help out during the descent. ESPN's Joe Lindsey didn't think the partnership would last long:

The duo nearly hit the asphalt simultaneously, but both riders were able to correct their lines just in time and avoid a horrible crash. Meanwhile, Romain Bardet managed to build a small gap, only to run into trouble with his chain, and Roman Kreuziger suffered a puncture that all but erased his chances of winning the stage.

Bardet and Contador both switched bikes ahead of the final climb, La Toussuire, with Movistar again setting the pace and Poels desperately trying to protect Froome. Nibali dropped Rolland early, starting the climb with a lead of almost two minutes on the group with Froome.

Author Feargal McKay couldn't help but wonder how the Italian could have impacted the standings had he not lost form in the Pyrenees:

"

Nibali and the Ghost of What Might Have Been...

— Feargal McKay (@fmk_RoI) July 24, 2015"

Rafal Majka acted as pacemaker for Contador, with Quintana and Valverde also circling Froome. The favourite for the general classification comfortably held his pace, however, and with Nibali catching up to the likes of Contador in the standings, the group started working more toward catching him, rather than attacking Froome.

Quintana finally attacked with five kilometres to go, immediately dropping Poels and opening up a gap to the rest of the group. Froome struggled to keep up with the Colombian, while Valverde and Contador immediately fell back.

As shared by the Inner Ring, Quintana quickly gained time on Nibali, although it appeared to be too late for the stage win:

More importantly, he swiftly opened up a 15-second gap over Froome, whose cadence no longer had the same rhythm that stunned fans and pundits during the second week of the Tour. He managed to limit his losses to just 30 seconds, however, and should feel good about his position as the peloton heads for Alpe d'Huez.

Nibali took the stage win and climbed all the way to fourth place in the standings, with Contador and Valverde dropping further back. Thomas was undoubtedly the biggest loser of the day, although that was to be expected after so much hard work. Here are the latest standings:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	78:37:34
2	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	0:02:38
3	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	0:05:25
4	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:06:44
5	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:07:56
6	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	0:08:55
7	Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling	0:12:39
8	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing	0:13:22
9	Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	0:14:08
10	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	0:17:27

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	420
2	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	316
3	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	281
4	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	192
5	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	128
6	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	122
7	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	90
8	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal	85
9	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	85
10	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr	83

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	90
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	87
3	Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	78
4	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team	64
5	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	56
6	Serge Pauwels (Bel) MTN - Qhubeka	55
7	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	54
8	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	47
9	Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo	40
10	Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	40

As reported by ITV Cycling, Froome was none too pleased with the timing of Nibali's attack:

The Italian disagreed with his assessment, however, and didn't appreciate Froome's comments to him in person after the stage, per Laura Meseguer of Eurosport:

Most fans and pundits, including the Guardian's Ian Prior, seemed to agree with Nibali, who was no real threat in the general classification to begin with:

"

Might help Chris Froome's current image issues if, on a day he was beaten fair and square, an immediate outbreak of whingeing didn't follow

— Ian Prior (@ianprior) July 24, 2015"

Saturday's stage will present Quintana with his final opportunity to catch Froome, as the peloton will tackle the legendary 21 hairpin turns of Alpe d'Huez.

The climb seems better suited to Quintana's climbing style and his lack of weight, but Froome's advantage in the standings remains significant. The Brit has few domestiques remaining, with Poels spending most of his energy Friday and Thomas showing his legs are spent, so expect the top climbers to attack his position early and often.

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