The 25-year-old began the 19th stage of the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race in fifth place in the general classification, but was hopeful of regaining time in the 146 kilometre Alpine stage from Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc.

Wet conditions during the mountainous route, which also featured several long descents, made life treacherous for the peloton.

Tom Dumoulin, a winner of two stages at this year’s race, was the first to fall foul of the weather as the Dutchman crashed out and with a bone having broken in his wrist, could miss out on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

His crash with 60km to go proved to be the first of several, with France’s Pierre Rolland crashing in the breakaway, while Australia’s Richie Porte and the Netherlands’ Bauke Mollema having also fallen in the general classification group.

While Porte was able to regain contact with the main group, Mollema remained off the back and saw his second place in the standings drift away.

Overall race leader Chris Froome has a brief scare when he crashed on a corner, but the Briton quickly swapped bikes with a team-mate and rejoined the peloton.

Amidst the crashes, Bardet launched an attack and was able to catch Portugal’s Rui Costa, the remaining rider from the initial 20 man breakaway, inside the closing seven kilometres.

The Frenchman was able to sweep past and soloed to the stage win in a time of 4hr, 14min and eight seconds, with Spain’s Joachim Rodriguez leading home the general classification group, who finished around 23 seconds adrift.

“I'm over the moon,” said Bardet afterwards.

“It's beautiful to ride a bike instinctively, this attack was absolutely not planned.

“Climbing to the finishing line was pure emotions.

“I watched the public in the eyes and shared the emotions with the people, we're humans and humans need emotions."

With Mollema having haemorrhaged time, which saw him drop to 10^th, Bardet was able to move into second place overall after his move.

Colombia’s Nairo Quintana also lies in a podium spot, after finishing 30 seconds ahead of Britain’s Adam Yates, with the third place rider at the start of the day having lost time in the closing kilometres.

Despite his fall, Froome remains firmly on course to seal the overall victory for the third time in four years, with the Team Sky rider boasting a 4:11 gap to Bardet and a 4:27 lead over Quintana.

The final Alpine stage will take the peloton 146km from Megève to Morzine-Avoriaz tomorrow, with the final processional stage taking place in Paris on Sunday (July 24).