Britain's Geraint Thomas has survived a terrifying crash on a hair-raising descent as Ruben Plaza won the 16th stage of the Tour de France.
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Chris Froome finished in an elite group of favourites to maintain his 3min 10sec lead over Nairo Quintana but his teammate Thomas came close to disaster on the 201km ride from Bourg-de-Peage to Gap on Monday.
Young Frenchman Warren Barguil lost control on a dangerous corner and bumped into Thomas who was knocked over a sheer drop, hitting his head on a lamppost as he went over the edge.
Incredibly, the tough Welshman climbed back onto the road and after a swift change of bikes, he carried on, losing only 38 seconds by the finish and holding onto his sixth place overall.
"I'm OK, I just hit my head on a lamppost, but I'm alright," said the chirpy 29-year-old, who reacted with typical dry humour.
"It was a hard right and I was just following the wheel and then all of a sudden Barguil went into me.
"I feel alright for now. I guess the doctor will ask me my number and date of birth soon," he added, jokingly claiming to think his name was Chris Froome.
"A nice Frenchman pulled me out but I lost my glasses as well. They don't even make them any more."
Barguil blamed the crash on American Tejay Van Garderen, claiming the BMC man had bumped into him before he lost control.
"I'm sorry. Just before the bend, Tejay Van Garderen touched me with his shoulder and my finger slipped off the brake," said the 22-year-old.
But Van Garderen saw things differently.
"Warren was trying to come over the top of me. I was trying to keep my position and stay safe," said the 26-year-old, third overall at 3min 32sec.
"It was a matter of who breaks the latest, he (Barguil) was willing to take great risks, he took out Geraint Thomas and almost took out himself."
That drama happened almost 20 minutes back from Spaniard Plaza's stage victory, while Peter Sagan came home second at 0:30 - taking his fifth runners-up spot on a stage this year as his two-year wait for a Tour victory drags on.
Colombian Jarlinson Pantano was third at 0:36.
Adam Hansen was the first to strike out for home inside the final 50km in a breakaway group, and finished 18th to be the top Australian in the stage.
Michael Rogers, at 32nd, is the highest placed Australian in the overall standings.
