This stage saw the Tour’s first foray into the alps, with one unpaved HC climb followed by two C1 punches and a downhill finish. Knowing that a breakaway could stand a good chance on such terrain, riders formed an early 21-man break, which at one point gained over six minutes on the peloton. Among the eventual survivors were Julien Alaphillipe (Quickstep Floors) who impressively won the stage after a long solo attack, and yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), who finished 4th and managed to extend his lead today over other GC contenders. Froome, Valverde, Yates, and Landa all finished together, but Uran appeared to be struggling, and was dropped on the final climb.