Here’s something you don’t see everyday: the reigning Tour de France victor ditching his bike and attempting to continue the race on foot.
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Chris Froome, Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema all crashed when they ploughed into the back of a race motorbike that had been forced to stop by the volume of fans on the road.
The defending champion crashed after a TV motorbike braked suddenly as crowds of fans were encroaching on the road. [Froome] was on my wheel, he went straight into the back of me. “It was just a mess”, he said.
Chris Froome, the lead of the tour, had just over a kilometre to go when he was collided with a motorcycle that left his bike unusable.
“I’m happy with the decision”, said Yates, who was initially given the race leadership according to preliminary results. Things have got to change.
“Other barriers installed close to Chalet Reynard fell over and we found ourselves with fewer barriers than usual”, added Prudhomme.
The yellow jersey – his bike rendered useless because it had been run over by a motorbike following the trio – began running towards the finish, in what will doubtless become the defining image of the 2016 Tour de France.
Froome was left running up the mountain on foot after the huge Bastille Day crowds caused a crash near the finish, leaving the race leader without a working bike and with support vehicles unable to get through to him immediately.
Froome therefore extended his lead with his main rival Nairo Quintana now third at 54sec, Mollema fourth at 56sec and young Frenchman Romain Bardet fifth at 1:15 ahead of Friday s 37km time-trial.
Despite losing over a minute Quintana of Colombia on the line, Froome eventually retained the yellow jersey after a decision by the race commissaries.
It was a nightmare, Sky sports director Nicolas Portal said.
I know many have watched the video replay of the crash over and over again.
“Decision by the commissaires panel: Chris Froome and Richie Porte have been given the same (stage) time as Bauke Mollema due to the incident in the finale”.
After being presented with the yellow jersey, Froome said: “What a finish”.
But when the Yellow Jersey breakaway group came up the final kilometres the crowds were just unrelenting, and it was inevitable something was going to happen, but the way it played out was a surprise for everyone.
“Everyone saw it, I don’t think anyone would want to take it that way”. I’d rather take it with my legs and not a crash in a bad situation. The most notorious affected Eddy Merckx in 1975, who was battling for the Tour for a record-breaking sixth time when he was punched in the stomach by a fan. It is what it is..
Lost in the madness: Belgian Thomas de Gendt won Stage 12, his first career stage victory.
There were too many people in the last kilometer, De Gendt said. As you do. We hope they appreciated it.
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It was still a grueling 10-kilometer (six-mile) climb featuring several sections with gradients exceeding 10 percent. So thank you to them and the organisers of the Tour de France.
