Bloodied Froome survives scare as Bardet moves into second with stage 19 win

British defending champion Froome (Team Sky) skidded on a white line on a descent 12 kilometres from the finish of the 146km stage from Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc. His elbows bloodied and his yellow jersey torn, Froome swapped bikes with Welsh team-mate Geraint Thomas before continuing on his way.

Bardet, the rangy climber from Ag2R-La Mondiale, had already attacked with team-mate Mikael Cherel on the descent ahead of Froome's crash – and the Frenchman then pressed on in pursuit of lone leader Rui Costa, the Portuguese rider from Lampre-Merida who was the last remaining rider from a 20-man breakaway still up the road.

Chasing France's first win of the Tour, Bardet dropped Costa inside the last four kilometres of the climb to solo to the second Tour stage win of his career. His joy was doubled on learning that he had moved up from fifth place to second in the general classification following the dual struggles of Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange).

Froome, who hugged loyal Sky team-mate Wout Poels after crossing the line 36 seconds down on Bardet, now leads the race by an improved cushion after both Mollema and Yates dropped off the podium. Trailing the double champion Froome by 4:11, Bardet is the Briton's nearest challenger with just one more mountain stage on the menu ahead of Sunday’s finale in Paris.

“I’m really grateful that nothing’s seriously injured but it just goes to prove that there’s never a dull day on the Tour de France,” Froome said after receiving his yellow jersey on the podium with an ice pack strapped to his right knee.

“It’s ironic – I was trying to stay safe up front and hit one of the white lines and lost my front wheel. I’m okay, it’s nothing serious, just lost a bit of skin. It was great for me to have team-mates all the way up the last climb – Wout [Poels] in particular. Thanks a lot to Geraint [Thomas] for his bike, too.

“Tomorrow will be hard. I’m sure I’ll be a little sore and stiff but I’m sure I can rely on my team-mates for one final push.”

Colombia's Nairo Quintana (Movistar) showed glimpses of the climbing prowess that has seen him twice finish runner-up to Froome in Paris en route to finishing fifth on the stage and rise to third place, 4:27 down on Froome, at the expense of Yates.

Yates, wearing the white jersey as best young rider in the race, was a regular fixture on the back of the group of main favourites and came home 56 seconds slower than Bardet to drop to fourth place on GC, nine seconds behind Quintana.

It was a day to forget for Mollema who crashed while attacking on the same decisive descent in pursuit of Bardet before being forced to ride the final 10 kilometre climb in complete isolation. The Dutchman dug deep but finished more than four minutes back to drop from second to 10th on GC, now almost eight minutes in arrears.

Australian Richie Porte (BMC) was another big name rider to hit the deck, Froome’s former team-mate crashing earlier on during the sodden descent of the Montee de Bisanne before fighting back ahead of the final climb to Saint-Gervais.

Despite a series of attacks in the closing kilometres of the stage, Porte eventually finished 17 seconds behind Froome but rises one place to fifth in the overall standings.

Spaniards Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) were the first of the GC favourites to come home – 23 seconds down on Bardet – alongside the South African Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida).

Italian Fabio Aru (Astana) and Ireland’s Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) both rode clear on the final climb before finishing behind Quintana in sixth and seventh.

It was Vuelta a Espana winner Aru’s Astana team who dictated play for most of the stage, leading the chase on the 20-man break and taking the race to Team Sky. Aru was unable to deliver the killer blow, however, while his compatriot Vincenzo Nibali, the 2014 Tour champion, crashed behind Froome when the yellow jersey slipped in the rain.

Other high-profile casualties on the stage included double stage winner Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), Frenchman Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) and Spaniard Dani Navarro (Cofidis), who all crashed during a hectic stage held in the shadow of Mont Blanc.

Dutchman Dumoulin withdrew with a wrist injury that could jeopardise his participation in the Rio Olympics while Navarro looked to have broken his collarbone in an incident that took place shortly after Bardet launched his decisive attack. Rolland, a former double stage winner, crashed while leading the race alongside Costa just as the rain started to fall around 40 kilometres from the finish.

Break: With a pivotal stage 19 in the Alps starting with a steep uncategorised climb from the outset a break quickly formed packed with some of the usual suspects, namely Belgian Mont Ventoux winner Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Colombian stage 15 victor Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling), German powerhouse Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) and the Polish polka dot jersey Rafal Majka (Tinkoff).

Also present in the 20-man break was Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko – the only Astana rider not populating the front of the peloton as the team of Fabio Aru looked to pile the pressure on Team Sky, Chris Froome and the other GC favourites.

Astana’s fast tempo saw the early gap of five minutes drop down to three minutes as De Gendt led the break over the first two categorised climbs, the Col de la Forclaz de Montmin and the Col de la Forclaz de Queige.

Adam Yates was already yo-yoing off the back when a touch of wheels in the pack saw Tom Dumoulin tangle bikes with Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data) and hit the deck. The tearful Giant-Alpecin rider remounted but soon withdrew with a suspected broken wrist.

The HC climb of the Montee de Bisanne caused damaged from the get-go with American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) among a cluster of riders dropped off the back as Astana continued their infernal pace.

Majka danced on the pedals to lead the reduced break over the summit in pole position and trouser the 25 KOM points that will secure him a second polka dot jersey in Paris. By now the pack was less than two minutes behind and when the rain started to fall the whole complexion of the race was turned on its head.

Turning point: When Pierre Rolland rode off in pursuit of Rui Costa, who had attacked on a slight rise that broke up the descent of the Bisanne, the Frenchman – a notoriously nervous descender – had not banked on the rain. His back wheel slipping on a tight corner, the Cannondale-Drapac rider was the first of a whole host of riders who chomped concrete in a dramatic conclusion to an already feisty stage.

With the peloton closing in on the remnants of the break, Romain Bardet and his Ag2R-La Mondiale team-mate Mikael Cherel piled on the pressure on the front of the pack, with Bauke Mollema looking to defend his place on the peloton by going on the attack.

FDJ duo Sebastien Reichenbach and Steve Morabito crashed in the main pack moments before Richie Porte came off with 30 kilometres remaining. Navarro, who had been in the earlier break, crashed on white paint with two others, while Mollema overcooked a hairpin bend and almost rode into the trees before eventually crashing moments later on a roundabout while chasing back on.

And with 12 kilometres remaining, Froome himself skidded on a white line to land heavily on his right-hand side and bring down Italian Vincenzo Nibali in his wake. Luckily for the race leader, Geraint Thomas and his similarly sized steed were on hand to limit the losses.

“It started raining on the final descent and I saw Richie [Porte] crash right in front of me,” Thomas later explained. “Bardet went, Mollema too. I saw Froomey and told him to chill but Froomey doesn’t do chill. The next thing, I see him on the floor after his crash.”

Finale: Despite riding Thomas’ bike, Froome did not opt to change back to his own replacement Pinarello. Surrounded by team-mates Wout Poels, Mikel Nieve and Sergio Henao, Froome rallied in a reduced group of favourites on the final climb.

Bardet, who himself almost came a cropper after touching wheels with team-mate Cherel before darting ahead in pursuit of Costa, caught the former world champion with eight kilometres remaining. The duo combined until the Frenchman bounded clear with four kilometres remaining.

Behind there came a series of attacks as Movistar duo Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde both accelerated, with Porte, Aru, Rodriguez and even Louis Meintjes having a dig.

Yates did well to fight back on numerous occasions but eventually dropped back, while Froome also impressed by limiting his losses alongside Poels to cement his grip on the yellow jersey.

Bardet had time to savour his victory – putting his thumbs up towards the crowd before raising his arms aloft as he crossed the line after a seriously steep final set of hairpins ahead of the finish. Bardet’s celebrations were magnified on learning that he had not only ended the host nation’s drought but also risen to second place on GC.

Only Chris Froome can crash and come home bloodied but still strengthen his grasp on the maillot jaune – but this is what happened when his nearest rivals Bauke Mollema and Adam Yates struggled at the business end of the race’s most exciting stage to date.

But all eyes will be on Romain Bardet who saved France the ignominy of failing to win a stage on the Tour for the first time since 1999 – doing so with panache while also teeing things up for an exciting final stage in the Alps on Saturday. Froome himself admitted that he will be bashed up for stage 20 – and with Bardet practically the only rider who didn’t fall off his bike, could we see Ag2R-La Mondiale going all in for an unlikely yellow jersey?

There were shades of his countryman Steven Kruijswijk – who recently lost the Giro d’Italia after crashing on the penultimate mountain stage – in Mollema, who one moment was on course for a podium finish in Paris before all but dropping out of the top ten.

It was indeed a dark day for the Dutch, whose gold medal hope for the Olympic time trial event, Tom Dumoulin, crashed innocuously and was forced out of the race in tears with a suspected broken wrist.

The Tour's final showdown is no ding-dong summit finish but a heart-in-mouth downhill after a draining succession of categorised climbs. Short and intense, this stage should encourage attacks from the outset with the remote Col des Aravis coming just 10 clicks in.

The easier side of the Colombière is followed by the irregular Col de la Ramaz (where the wheels fell off Lance Armstrong's comeback wagon in 2010) and the nasty Col de Joux-Plane (11.6km at 8.5%). But the last card in this yellow crusade could well be played on the winding 12-kilometre descent to Morzine, where Carlos Sastre, Richard Virenque and Marco Pantani are among previous winners.