Aussie Rides A Breakaway To Win Stage 16

The 2014 Tour de France has now completed 16 of its 21 stages. Stage 16, a difficult mountain stage in the Pyrenees, was a day for a breakaway to succeed. 21 Riders were in the breakaway and managed to stay away from the peloton, but the tough unrated climb near the race finish reduced the number in that breakaway to a leading group of five riders. With about 4.5 kilometers to go, Australia's Michael Rogers took off and finished about 9 seconds ahead of the other four. Thomas Voeckler of France finished in second, and Vasili Kiriyienka of Belarus finished third.

No one was able to make up any time on Vicenzo Nibali's overall lead in stage 16, but they get another chance to do so in stage 17 (which has four extremely difficult climbs -- three category 1 climbs and an even tougher unrated climb at the end of the stage). Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Race Leader)
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team
2. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) Movistar Team..........4' 37"
3. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR..........5' 06"
4. Jean-Christophe Peraud (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........6' 08"
5. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........6' 40"
6. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing..........9' 25"
7. Leopold Konig (Czech Republic) Team Netapp-Endura..........9' 32"
10. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........11' 33"
8. Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........11' 12"
9. Michael Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........11' 28"
10. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........11' 33"
11. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spain) Trek Factory Racing..........12' 38" 
12. Pierre Rolland (France) Team Europcar..........13' 09"
13. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium) Lotto-Belisol..........14' 02"
14. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg) Team Sky..........17' 37"
15. Yuri Trofimov (Russia) Team Katusha..........23' 06"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Cannondale..........402 pts
2. Bryan Coquard (France) Team Europcar..........226 pts
3. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) Team Katusha..........217 pts
4. Marcel Kittel (Germany) Team Giant-Shimano..........177 pts
5. Mark Renshaw (Australia) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........153 pts
6. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) BMC Racing Team..........147 pts 
7. Andre Greipel (Germany) Lotto-Belisol..........143 pts
8. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team..........134 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Rafal Majka (Poland) Tinkoff-Saxo..........89 pts
2. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain) Team Katusha..........88 pts
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana Pro Team..........86 pts
4. Thomas Voeckler (France) Team Europcar..........61 pts
5. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR..........49 pts
6. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) Movistar Team..........40 pts 
7. Alessandro De Marchi (Italy) Cannondale..........38 pts

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Thibaud Pinot (France) FDJ.FR
2. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........1' 34"
3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........6' 22"
4. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) Team Giant-Shimano..........55' 19"

TEAM STANDINGS
1. AG2R La Mondiale (France)
2. Belkin Pro Cycling (Belgium)..........26' 21"
3. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........39' 19"
4. Movistar Team (Spain)..........54' 56"
5. BMC Racing (United States)..........55' 46"