Tour de France: Chris Froome retains yellow jersey after brutal stage
Wednesday 19 July 2017 10:05, UK
Chris Froome emerged unscathed from a dramatic ninth stage of the Tour de France which saw Team Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas and BMC's Richie Porte crash out of the race.
Froome, who retains the yellow jersey, finished the 181km route from Nantue to Chambery in third behind Rigoberto Uran, who won a photo finish from the charging Warren Barguil in a rare sprint finish between the general classification contenders.
It was a thrilling climax to a stage that will live long in the memory having featured hors categorie climbs, the first of which claimed Thomas as he fell on the slippery descent of the Col de la Biche.
Thomas was taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone, before Porte was involved in a frightening incident on the way down from the gruelling Mont du Chat - the last of seven climbs on a brutal stage.
With the riders descending at high speed, Porte slipped on the inside of a curve and slid across the road, crashing into the rock face on the right side of the road before being hit by Dan Martin, who had nowhere to go.
Martin recovered to continue, but made his feelings known after returning to the paddock with a broken helmet and several bumps and bruises.
"Richie lost it on one corner - it was so slippery, I guess the organisers got what they wanted," he said. "It was so slippery under the trees. I was very, very lucky to get away as lightly as I did."
Also in the final sprint was AG2R La Mondiale's Romain Bardet, who finished fourth ahead of Fabio Aru of Astana.
With four bonus seconds on the line for third place, Froome extended his lead over Aru in the general classification to 18 seconds, but he will be without Thomas for help for the rest of the race.
The crashes were not the only cause of drama as Froome suffered a mechanical problem on the Mont du Chat and as the three-time Tour winner was calling for the team car Aru attacked in a clear breach of cycling's protocol.
The other general classification contenders followed the Italian, but seemingly in order to remonstrate with him and tell him to wait.
Froome soon caught back up after a bike change but made his feelings known to Aru as he gave the Astana man a nudge after a corner.
"I had a mechanical problem with my gears, I had to change bike," he said. "I want to thank the other riders, who did not attack."
Soon after that, two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador, who crashed on the ascent of the Grand Colombier, was dropped by the group of contenders, and Colombian Nairo Quintana soon followed, apparent confirmation that his bid to do the Giro d'Italia and Tour double have left him short of his best form.
Quintana would finish in the group that included Martin and Yates, one minute and 15 seconds behind Uran, while Contador shipped more than four minutes.
Back at the front, Uran's victory - his first in the Tour - came with a story of its own after he suffered mechanical problems in the final stages and unable to change gear, asked the neutral service mechanic to lift his chain into the highest gear on the back ring so he could barrel his way to the line.
"I wasn't sure if I had won or not," Uran said. "When I've been told I did, I've felt a lot of happiness. It was a big occasion for me after so many things happened today like the crash of Richie Porte.
"Then my derailleur was out of order. I managed to save myself and contest the stage victory. It's a surprise. I'm very happy to have won this complicated stage. It's also positive for the general classification. It's a great day for my team."
Stage nine result:
1 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale 5:07:22"
2 Warren Barguil (Fra) Sunweb same time
3 Chris Froome (Gbr) Team Sky
4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana
7 George Bennett (NZ) LottoNL +1:15"
8 Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky
9 Daniel Martin (Ire) Quick-Step
10 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar
11 Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica
General Classification Standings:
1 Chris Froome (Gbr) Team Sky 38:26:28"
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana +18"
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R +51"
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale) +55"
5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana +1:37"
6 Daniel Martin (Ire) Quick-Step +1:44"
7 Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica +2:02"
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar +2:13"
9 Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky +3:06"
10 George Bennett (NZ) LottoNL +3:53"
