Crashes galore: Tour riders come to grief on ‘hectic day’
ROUBAIX, France — Richie Porte sat on the pavement grasping his right shoulder and grimacing in pain.
A fan helped Chris Froome get going after he tumbled onto grass lining the road.
Romain Bardet recovered from three punctured tires.
And they were only the highest-profile riders to face mishaps in the action-packed cobblestoned Stage 9 of the Tour de France cycling race Sunday.
Every cyclist who reached the finish line was covered in dust — many of them with their jerseys torn to shreds because of crashes.
Spanish rider Gorka Izaguirre had the unusual experience of his rear wheel buckling to the point that it looked like something out of a scrap heap.
John Degenkolb won a threeman sprint to take victory in a memorable stage, while overall contender Porte crashed out of the race.
Yellow-jersey holder Greg Van Avermaet crossed second and increased his overall lead to 43 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas, a teammate of Froome’s at Sky. Yves Lampaert of QuickStep finished third.
“It was a pretty hectic day,” Van Avermaet said after the dust settled.
Added Thomas, “It was just hard all day from kilometre zero. You’ve got to be in the right position but you also need the luck because it’s easy to puncture or get caught up in something.”
Froome, the four-time champion, crossed in the main pack, 27 seconds behind, overcoming a crash with 45 kilometres to go that saw him go over the top of teammate Gianni Moscon.
“I’m relieved to get through today and looking forward to getting into the mountains now where the real race for GC (general classification) will start,” Froome said.
Froome moved up to eighth overall, 1:42 behind Van Avermaet, who is not a threat in the mountains.
Porte, the BMC team leader, crashed out of the Tour 10 kilometres into the 156.5-kilometre leg — before any of the 15 cobblestone sections.
He was later diagnosed with a fractured right clavicle.
Porte also crashed out of last year’s Tour in the ninth stage, on a mountain descent.
After the first rest day Monday, the Tour resumes in the Alps on Tuesday with a 158.5-kilometre leg from Annecy to Le Grand-Bornand featuring four serious climbs.