Froome got caught in the melee as Richie Porte’s bike struck the back of the motorcycle, which was braking on the narrow race route up Mont Ventoux. “I’m very happy with the jury’s decision”, Froome said. He got another bike in less than a minute and another replacement in order to finish the stage.
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“Chris Froome and Richie Porte have been given the same time as Bauke Mollema due to the incident in the finale”.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme said it was “an outstanding decision” and explained there were more spectators concentrated near the finish because the stage had been shortened due to violent winds at top of the Ventoux.
Fortunately for Porte, the race jury chose to award him and Froome the same time as former breakaway companion Mollema on the line, 5-05 behind stage victor Thomas De Gendt.
Froome’s main rival Nairo Quintana (Movistar) of Colombia is third, 54 seconds behind, with fourth-placed Mollema 56 seconds off the pace. There are more and more people lining up the road.
“It’s the decision they had to take”, said Porte. Nobody would have wanted to take the yellow jersey like this so it’s a good decision the jury has taken. As a result, Froome lost time to all of his general classification rivals, although it was not immediately clear if Froome would lose the yellow jersey as race officials can rule to neutralise the race and ensure that Froome would keep his lead.
“If anyone was in the same situation they would feel the same. I wanted to take it with my legs”.
“Cycling is the only sport where people can be so close to the players”.
Lotto-Soudal teammates Andre Greipel and Thomas De Gendt are part of a 13-man breakaway early in the stage with a lead of almost 10 minutes on the pack.
He said: “It was pretty risky in the last kilometre, but the fans make the sport and there’s not many sports where fans can get so close to the athletes”. “There was not even a place for one motorbike”.
With the wind at 125 kph (nearly 80 mph) on top of the Giant of Provence, organizers moved the finish line six kilometers (3 1/2 miles) down the road to the Chalet Reynard.
It was still a grueling 10-kilometer (6-mile) climb featuring several sections with gradients exceeding 10 percent.
It was De Gendts first career stage win in the Tour.
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Froome was the stage victor when the Tour previously scaled Ventouxs barren, 1,909-meter (6,263-foot) peak in 2013. Yeah, OK, now I get the same time as Mollema on the stage. but I also crashed, and now I’m sore on the eve of such a crucial stage – Friday’s Stage 13, a 37.5-kilometre time trial from Bourg Saint Andeol to La Caverne du Pont d’Arc.
