Warren Barguil finished 30th after a difficult day in the Alps as Vincenzo Nibali won the stage and Christopher Froome remained the GC leader.

The distance wasn’t a good indication of the difficulty of today’s stage 19 as it was a relatively short stage of 138km. On the menu: four registered climbs with the Col de la Croix de Fer and the mountaintop finish on La Toussuire.

At the uphill start the attacks directly started, different groups were formed and even the GC contenders competed for a position in the break. After 40km 21 riders formed the breakaway group and the rest was back in the bunch.

On the Col de la Croix de Fer the bunch reduced completely as only 11 riders formed the yellow jersey group on the summit. Before reaching the top Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) attacked and Warren Barguil dropped was.

In the descent Warren Barguil returned, but on the penultimate climb he dropped again and rode his own pace up to La Toussuire.

Nibali was able to stay ahead of the GC fight that was won by Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) and won the stage. Christopher Froome (Team Sky) finished third and remained the GC leader. Warren Barguil finished 30th and is now 14th overall.

After the finish Warren Barguil said: “I had a difficult day, which is frustrating so close to Paris. Physically I was not capable of doing any better today. The crash of stage 10 took a lot of energy out of me and I pay that in cash now, but I don’t want to look for excuses.

“I am here to learn and I am really satisfied with my performance so far at the Tour de France and happy to make it to Paris.

"I said I could have a bad day and here it it. It's a pity. I took a lot of pleasure in the first weeks but perhaps I arrived in shape too early. Today I paid the full price. A bad day on a stage like this is not simple. I would have preferred it to happen on a flatter stage. Finally, it was today. That's what bike race is about."

“I hope to recover well over the night so that I can give my all tomorrow and then I hope for some good legs.”

Coach Marc Reef added: “The plan with Warren [Barguil] was to follow the guys that were a threat for the GC. He tried it on the first climb of the day but blew up his engine and could not follow. On the Col du Mollard he was dropped definitively and he saved a bit of energyin the final kilometers.

“We will try it again tomorrow and we go for a good stage result on the Alp d’Huez.”