Froome extends his overall lead at Tour de France
- by Leland Aguilar
- in Entertaiment
- — Jul 14, 2016
A three-man breakaway that contained Chris Froome crashed into a motorbike in the final kilometers, forcing the yellow jersey to run towards the finish after his bike broke.
Richie Porte slammed the "crazy" crowds on Mont Ventoux that caused stage 12 of the Tour de France to end in chaotic scenes. He grabbed a spare bike from neutral assistance before taking back his own, but was shaking his head furiously as he crossed the line.
The pack rides during the twelfth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 184 kilometers (114.3 miles) with start in Montpellier and finish on the Mont Ventoux, France, Thursday, July 14, 2016.
Under the guise of a small attack for the sake of mountains classification points, Froome kicked over the top of the final climb on stage eight and away he went. "It's just a mess", Porte said.
"That can't stand, can't happen like that. Surely the jury has to look at it and use some sort of discretion".
The motorbikes preceding them could find no way through the crowds, however, and ground to a halt, Porte crashing into the back of one, Froome and Mollema coming down behind him.
"I agree that you come to the race, you have a good time, but you don't need to be running beside the riders, you don't need to hitting riders, pushing riders", said Porte, who was being examined for possible injuries.
But the pair were knocked off their bikes near the finish and Froome began running up the hill.
The incident is being investigated by Tour organisers.
Froome tweeted that he will still be in the yellow jersey for Stage 13.
"Ventoux is full of surprises", said Froome.
"The motorbike could not progress and there was a pile-up in which Chris' bike was broken", said Team Sky sports director Nicolas Portal.
"There was of course uproar afterwards, with disgraced former champion Lance Armstrong described the action as a "**** show".
Froome's time gain was tiny in terms of seconds but huge in psychological impact: this marks the second stage where the 2013 and 2105 Tour victor has attacked in unorthodox fashion and gained time on his rivals.
Using an unconventional pedal-while-descending style, the Team Sky leader increased his advantage and on the downhill and held it on the flat run in to the finish line. Britain's Tom Simpson collapsed and died on it during the 1967 Tour after he used a lethal cocktail of amphetamines and alcohol.
The Ventoux stage was cut short due to high winds Thursday.
