Froome now leads the overall classification by 1:47 over Dutchman Bauke Mollema.
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Froome showed no ill effects from Thursday’s chaotic scenes on Mont Ventoux – when he was reduced to running up the mountain on foot following a crash – as he finished one minute and three seconds behind stage victor Tom Dumoulin.
Stage victor Dumoulin added: “On one side I’m a very happy man but on the other side it’s a very sad day”.
Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) missed out, however – his time only good enough to break into the provisional top five as his chances of a stage win in his final Tour de France faded.
Yates had expected to lose time on this stage and duly gave up nearly two minutes to Froome, at least better than the four minutes he predicted.
Movistar’s Nairo Quintana, seen as Froome’s main rival, also lost out, slipping to two minutes and 59 seconds off yellow after finishing 20th.
“It’s a very sad day”, said Froome, who who lives near Nice in Monaco.
Cycling – The Tour de France cycling race – The 178-km (110.6 miles) Stage 12 from Montpellier to Chalet-Reynard – 14/07/2016 – Yellow jersey leader Team Sky rider Chris Froome of Britain reacts on the podium.
“My thoughts go with all the families in Nice and those affected”.
“I wanted to go and give it a good trot”.
“The organization has to take some blame, and there’s a balance to be found between safety and preserving supporter passion”, said Hatch.
“It’s pretty clear today, everyone’s thoughts are with those affected down in Nice, and it’s hard for us to be talking about the race”.
“To see the Promenade (des Anglais) the way it was yesterday evening, with bodies all over the road… it was horrific scenes”. The attack, on France’s national holiday, followed attacks last November in Paris that killed 130.
Yates, who remains the leading young rider in the race, said he agreed with the race jury’s decision to change the initial results.
“Today, we want to pay homage to the victims with dignity”, said Prudhomme, wearing a black armband around his blue shirt and holding back tears.
“We asked questions of ourselves, effectively”.
Froome was the stage victor when the Tour previously scaled Ventoux’s barren, 1,909-meter (6,263-foot) peak in 2013. The 13th stage began with the tour’s publicity caravan – usually playing loud music to energise the thousands lining the route – silenced for the day following the attack in Nice.
“If someone’s not ready for it they could get caught out and from our side we’re looking at it as quite a key stage in this race”.
Eric Luzet, the police’s liaison officer to the Tour, told The Associated Press that extra security measures were implemented overnight, with 600 police officers in charge of security for the stage.
Porte was less diplomatic about the perceived lack of crowd control: “The crowd are in your face the whole time, pushing riders.at the top, that was just insane”, the Australian rider said.
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He tried to borrow a bike from a neutral race vehicle, but it was too small, and by the time a replacement was found, Froome had been left way behind by his rivals.
