After Froome eventually got a replacement bike from a team auto following the racers, he crossed the line 1 minute and 40 seconds behind one of the riders who crashed with him and 44 seconds behind the other rider who crashed with him, according to the BBC.
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Twenty four hours before he crossed the line here, Froome had been caught in a chaotic and weird end to stage 12 on Mont Ventoux when he crashed along with Mollema and former team-mate Richie Porte when a television motorbike was caught in huge crowds on the mountain. “I don’t know what they’re going to do but they’re going to have to do something about it”. I just started running. I knew the vehicle was stuck and was five minutes behind.
“It’s really unfortunate what happened in the last couple of kilometers”, Froome said, “but ultimately common sense has prevailed and the commissaires have come to the right decision, so I would like to thank them for that”. “It was the right decision”. There will be another ceremony at the finish, with a moment of silence involving the yellow jersey, the best sprinter and the best climber.
Two-time runner-up Nairo Quintana was third, 54 seconds behind, and Mollema moved up to fourth, 56 seconds back.
The 23-year-old Yates was in line for yellow before the race jury’s decision, but endorsed the ruling. Nobody wants to take the yellow jersey like that. “I’d rather take it with my legs and not a crash in a bad situation”, Yates said. “I wanted to take it with my legs”.
“Froome loses time on the provisional general classification, 53 seconds back on yellow”.
Froome’s compatriot Adam Yates temporarily grabbed first place as a result of the crash – although the defending champion’s leading position was later restored after the incident was deemed a result of extenuating circumstances.
The Tour de France will continue as planned on Friday, a day after the deadly attack in Nice.
The pair were joined by Trek-Segafredo’s Mollema and were comfortably ahead of a group including Yates and Movistar’s Nairo Quintana before calamity struck and there was the weird sight of the yellow jersey running up a mountain.
“Perhaps next year Chris will do the Paris Marathon”, said Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford.
It was De Gendt’s first career stage win in the Tour.
That may well have contributed to the incident as the large crowds were compacted into a smaller section of the mountain, and there were fewer roadside barriers in the final kilometres of the stage than is normal.
“There were too many people in the last kilometer”, De Gendt said.
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.
That was soon shut down, and the Colombian had no response when Froome and Porte went together. “It’s just a mess”.
“It was bumpy at times, gusty winds, but with the wheels I had in it was ok”.
“It was pretty risky (with the fans) but the fans make the sport”, Yates said.
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News coverage showed footage of a rider slamming into a cameraman, and photos posted to social media show fans standing dangerously close to the course holding signs.
