Standings stable despite chaotic day

Tear gas in riders’ eyes. A farmers’ protest blocking the road. Two key crashes on dangerous descents. The only thing lacking from the wild 16th stage of the Tour de France was a shakeup in the overall standings.

Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe took advantage of his downhill skills to win the first of three mountainous legs in the Pyrenees, which was briefly interrupted when police used tear gas to disperse a farmers’ protest that had blocked the road with bales of hay.

Overall standings were unchanged. Geraint Thomas in the yellow jersey, secondplace Chris Froome and thirdplace Tom Dumoulin crossed together nearly nine minutes behind. The farmers’ protest occurred 30 kilometers into the 218-kilometer (135.5-mile) leg. Thomas, Froome, world champion Peter Sagan and others were treated with eye drops due to the tear gas amid a 15-minute delay.

It was the latest in a series of incidents involving spectators during this year’s race, with Team Sky riders being pushed and spat on and 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali’s back getting broken in a crash when a fan caught a camera strap on his handlebars. The small group of farmers were protesting a planned reduction of European Union funding, according to French authorities.

Thomas remained 1 minute, 39 seconds ahead of four-time champion Froome, with Dumoulin 1:50 back. Alaphilippe took the lead when Adam Yates crashed on a technical descent in the finale.

Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert was leading when he crashed earlier in the stage while descending from the Col de Portet-d’Aspet, hitting a wall and flipping off his bike spectacularly but avoiding major injury.

Spain’s Gorka Izaguirre finished second, 15 seconds behind, and Yates was third with the same time. The race stays in the Pyrenees today for what could be the most challenging stage of the Tour, a 65-kilometer leg that features three grueling climbs.