The rain held off, France finally gained its stage win thanks to the unheralded Christophe Riblon, and Chris Froome was docked 20 seconds for illegal feeding in the final kilometres after an attack of hypoglycaemia.
Sometimes the high point of the Tour de France lives up to its billing, and the twin climbs of l'Alpe d'Huez managed to achieve that, with Froome increasing his overall lead to 5min 11sec as Alberto Contador over-reached himself with another attempt to attack the Briton on a descent.
The combination of the two climbs of the Alpe and the vertiginous, technical drop off the Col de Sarenne made the final 64km a marathon challenge, with the riders under pressure for an hour and three quarters. Feeding was critical, so too the ability to measure energy expenditure, and that explained much of what happened in the final five kilometres, and in particular Froome's tricky moment.
He had not looked at his best at the foot of the second ascent, struggling at times to stay with his Sky team-mate Richie Porte, who at times looked to be slowing in the same way that Froome had done in 2012 for Bradley Wiggins.
Read more: Chris Froome extends Tour de France lead despite penalty in stage 18 thriller | Sport | The Guardian
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