today 17:06 | Canadian cyclist Hugo Houle triumphed in Tuesday’s 16th stage of the 109th Tour de France and achieved the greatest success of his career. The rider of the Israel-Premier Tech stable prevailed after breaking away and managed the 178.5 km long mountain route from Carcassonne to Foix in 4:23:47 h. Read also Tour de France 2022: Complete program, stages, routes, ONLINE broadcasts of the 16th stage of the Tour de France you could watch ONLINE at ŠPORT.sk >> His triumph was further enhanced by the third place of his compatriot and teammate Michael Woods, second place was finished by the native Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ). Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) kept the yellow jersey. Slovakian Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) finished in 133rd place with a deficit of 31:21 min. Even after the 16th stage, Vingegaard maintained a lead of 2:22 minutes ahead of the Slovenian Tadej Pogačar (SAE Team Emirates), the third Briton Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) loses 2:43 minutes to the leader of the overall standings. Behind them, the order was already changing slightly. The Colombian Nairo Quintana from the Arkea-Samsic team jumped to fourth place (+4:15 min), the native David Gaudu from FDJ (+4:24) is fifth. Participating in the daily breakout paid off for Russian Aleksandr Vlasov from Bora, who moved from 11th to eighth place (+6:18). The stage did not go well for Frenchman Romain Bardet from DSM, as he fell from fourth to ninth position. photo gallery Hugo Houle Source: reuters On Tuesday, the first mountain check in the Pyrenees awaited the peloton. Shortly after the start, two premiums of the 4th and 3rd categories followed, then a long flat section and in the final third the main mountain program. Cyclists first had Port de Lers (Cat. 1, 11.4 km, 7%) and Mur de Pégure (Cat. 1, 9.4 km, 7.9%) with the top 27 km before the finish line. Then it was just a long descent to Foix. The profile of the stage gave great chances to escape, and many competitors tried to get there from the start. One attack followed another, the activity was high, and after a few kilometers the escape of the day was born. As many as 29 competitors made it. There was Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who went for points in the “green” competition, many high-quality climbers who no longer had a chance to speak to the overall standings, but also riders from teams that have not yet won stages. The top 10 was threatened only by the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov from Bory, who lost to Vingegaard by 10:32 and was 11th before the stage, and the thirteenth American Neilson Powless from EF Education (+18:11 min). He also fought for the mountain jersey, before the stage he was in third place. Simon Geschke (Cofidis) held the first place and was also on the run. After the second premium on the Col de l’Espinas (Cat. 3, 5.2 km, 5.2%), the breakaway already had a six-minute lead. Nils Eekhoff (DSM) was the first on the speed bonus 110 km before the finish, van Aert crossed it right behind him and scored 17 points. Marc Soler (SAE Team Emirates) had health problems, he visited the medical car and was significantly behind. A strong escape on the flat part worked well together and brought up to an eight-minute lead under Port de Lers. There, however, the “ceasefire” ended and the mountaineers began to attack. photo gallery Tour de France 2022: 16th stage Source: reuters Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) started first, followed by Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ) and then Houle. In the meantime, the battle for the overall standings also began in the group of favorites. Movistar riders were the first to surprisingly attack, trying to overtake Enrico Maso, currently tenth, but they did not gain the lead. The peloton shrunk, the sprinters together with Sagan got out earlier. At the top of Port de Lers, Geschke was the first and scored another 10 points. At the end of the climb, Pogačar also tried twice, but Vingegaard watched him. The Slovenian mountaineer attacked even in the descent, but it didn’t lead to anything either. Only about 15 cyclists remained in the main group, which followed the breakaway for seven minutes. Under the Mur de Pégure, where the maximum slope climbed up to 18%, Houle arrived first and his attack succeeded. He gradually built up a lead of 45 seconds over the group of his teammate Woods. Caruso, Storer, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Madouas were also in it. Houle crossed the summit with a lead of 30 seconds and only had a long descent to the finish line. Only seven competitors remained in the group of favorites. Vingegaard had Seppa Kuss, Pogačar Rafal Majka with him, but his chain fell and he fell behind. Ineos stuck with Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates, FDJ had David Gaudu and Arké Nair Quintana in the game. The expected attack of Pogačar did not come, the group crossed the peak essentially together and thus the differences did not arise. photo gallery Tour de France 2022: 16th stage Source: SITA/AP Houle managed the long descent, moreover, his closest pursuer Jorgenson fell, so the thirty-one-year-old Canadian came for the biggest success of his career. This year he was already third in the 13th stage. So far, he has scored two victories at domestic time trial championships. The excellent day of Canada and the Israel-Premier Tech team was underlined by the third place of Woods. “I’ve never won a race so this is a good place to get my first win. When I attacked it was to set up an opportunity for Michael Woods but they let me go and Mike made a gap. Then I went full throttle and in the steep climbs I was suffering. But I knew when I got to the top with a 30 to 40 second lead, I could do it,” Houle said. On Wednesday, the stage from Saint-Gaudens to Peyragudes is 129.7 km long, but with four challenging climbs, including the final climb to the finish line (Cat. 1, 8.1 km, 7.2%). Also read Tour de France 2022 – everything you need to know in one place