Chris Froome retained the Tour de France race lead while Geraint Thomas finished stage 16 despite a scary crash in Gap.

The pair were joined by Wout Poels and an elite group of contenders on the notoriously technical descent off the Col de Manse.

Thomas came down on a tight corner after he was collided with by an out of control Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), hitting a telegraph pole and leaving the road before dropping down into a ditch.

The Welshman quickly remounted and crossed the line just 38 seconds back on the group of contenders containing the yellow jersey of Froome.

Despite attacks on the second-category climb, Froome held firm to retain his lead of three minutes and 10 seconds over Nairo Quintana (Movistar) heading into the second rest day. Thomas was also able to hang on to his sixth place overall, 5:32 back after a gutsy ride.

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) attacked on the final climb to claw back 28 seconds as the GC contenders finished almost 18 minutes down on the day's breakaway.

Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida) timed his attack to perfection on the climb and made good his escape as the rest of the break marked each other. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) took big risks on the descent to claim second place, 30 seconds back.

Froome, who also retained the polka dot jersey, was happy to see Thomas make it to the finish, but at the same time sad to see team-mate Pete Kennaugh exit the race.

"I did hear on the radio that [G] had been caught in a crash behind. At that point I was just trying to say to the guys around me 'listen there's been a crash let's just try and keep the race steady for now.' But obviously only a few kilometres before the finish the guys wanted to go hard.

“I didn't see the crash myself but it's never nice to hear on the radio that a teammate has crashed, especially Geraint, who has been up there on every stage and is up there in the GC too. But he's a tough guy and showed it by getting back on his bike.

"A rider chopped him up and took him down, Barguil I think. He's tough though, he got back on his bike and got back straight into it. He's a Welshman. That says it all. He's a tough lad and I'm sure he'll bounce back.

“I think we had a good day as a team. Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard did a good job controlling the race until getting to the foot of last climb. Pete Kennaugh abandoned the race and that's a big loss. He's been struggling with illness, he suffered yesterday and today. We're going to share the work with riders we have but we're all fit and healthy, even Richie (Porte) is bouncing back after a bit of illness and no doubt he'll be back for the Alps.

"It was unfortunate to lose Peter Kennaugh He had a tough last couple of days with illness and spent a lot of energy trying to stay in the race yesterday. He's a big part of the team but he's had a tough couple of days with illness. I hope he recovers soon. It means we're going to have to share the work between the eight riders but the guys are strong and I've got a lot of confidence in them.

“Today was a nice day to tick off, it was stressful with final climb before the descent made famous with stories of crashes.

"Beyond that I think it's been a pretty good day for us. We saw the other GC teams trying today. Tinkoff-Saxo took the race on at the foot of the last climb. We saw attacks over the top and Vincenzo Nibali going for it.

“When he (Nibali) went at top of the final climb today I didn't think it was crucial to close the gap to him given that there were others GC riders who need to worry about the podium before I do. We can expect him to attack at any moment in the race. I'm sure he'll attack in next few days.

"We can expect the same in the four days left until we reach Paris. We expect to be attacked everywhere. On the flat, in crosswinds, in the climbs. But I'm confident we have the team to control the race and take the jersey back to Paris. The race certainly isn't over yet. We're going to have try and keep control of the race and hope we can keep the lead until Paris.

“We know the descent of the Col d'Allos will be very decisive moment in the race, though it could be different. We're two and half weeks into a Grand Tour and so energy levels are not the same as in the Dauphiné, but I think definitely expect the racing will happen on the Col d'Allos, on the descent and up the final climb to Pra-Loup.

“Three minutes is a good margin but on a bad day you can run out of sugars, hit the wall and lose a lot of time. I'm sure the other teams will try something.

"Physically and mentally everyone is exhausted and looking forward to the rest day. My wife is coming so I hope to spend a little bit of time with her."