Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands attacked near the foot of the final climb to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France in extreme weather conditions as Alberto Contador pulled out of the race.
Giant Alpecin rider Dumoulin, sixth in last year's Vuelta, was the strongest of Sunday's breakaway riders, taking a solo victory in a deafening hailstorm after riding most of the day in temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius.
The Dutchman completed his set of grand tour stage wins after prevailing in the Vuelta and the Giro d'Italia.
Briton Chris Froome retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after controlling his closest rivals in the ascent to Arcalis.
The Team Sky rider leads compatriot Adam Yates (Orica-Bike Exchange) by 16 seconds and Ireland's Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) by 19, while Australian Richie Porte gained ground on some rivals but is still more than two minutes back in 14th.
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"I put some time into some other general classification guys, so it's a good day," Porte said.
"I need to get time back so that's what I was thinking (when I attacked late in the stage). It would have been nice to get a bit more of a gap but I'm guessing that they're not just going to let me ride away like that.
"Physically (I am) in a good place."
Froome added: "It's still a very open race at this point, I'm really happy to come into the first rest day as leader.
"There were a lot of attacks in that final climb, I was hoping to gain more time as well. I just made sure to close any gaps and at least finish in the same time as my rivals today."
Contador, who had crashed on the two opening stages and had a fever in the morning, called it quits 104km from the finish line after trying his luck one last time with a vintage early move.
"I have not recovered from the crashes, I've been sick overnight, that's why I made this decision. I could not continue," said the Spaniard.
Other top favourites had a tough time with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Italian Fabio Aru (Astana) and American Tejay van Garderen (BMC) losing ground in the ultimate climb of the first summit finish of the Tour.
Overall, Froome, who made a few brief attacks in the finale, could not distance himself from last year's runner-up Nairo Quintana (Movistar), who rode conservatively, keeping his cards close to his chest.
The Colombian is fourth overall, 23 seconds behind Froome.
Froome's former teammate Porte (BMC), Yates and Martin also managed to hang on to the defending champion's wheel.
Monday is a rest day on the Tour.
