Daily Mirror

Cobble & strife

SKY LEADER FALLS ON DREADED STAGE AS RIVAL PORTE BREAKS COLLARBONE

- BY MIKE WALTERS @MikeWalter­sMGM

CHRIS FROOME waved goodbye Roubaix doomsday after surviving a crash on the cobbles and major rival Richie Porte was forced to retire hurt.

On the giant paving blocks of northern France, Froome was “relieved” to escape unscathed after landing on a grass verge as he ran out of room on a tight corner.

But there was no such luck for his former team-mate Porte, who was forced to abandon the Tour de France on stage nine for the second year running.

Twelve months ago, the Aussie mountain goat suffered multiple injuries in a terrifying 45mph smash descending the Mont du Chat towards Chambery.

This time, Porte was only four miles out of Arras, on the 98-mile dash to one of cycling’s spiritual heartlands and hadn’t even reached the first of 15 cobbled sections, when he went down with a suspected dislocated collarbone (after the incident, right).

If you ever wondered why so many cyclists have asthma or dust allergies, Froome’s face – covered in dust and assorted gunk afterwards (below) – will give you a clue. Don’t forget, they are also breathing in all that muck.

But when the broken bones had been counted, and the surviving contenders were safely home, there were three Brits in the top nine on the leaderboar­d: Froome, his Team Sky wingman Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates.

All three will be a force when the race swings into the Alps after today’s rest day.

Four-time champion Froome said: “It was a brutal stage, just brutal. Our thoughts go out to Richie that he didn’t make it and, for me, it’s a relief to get that stage behind us.

“I don’t know how badly injured he is, but it’s never nice to see one of the main players and an old rival go out like that.

“There were times when we tried to push on and string out the race, but there’s a long way to go, and now we’re heading into the mountains, where the real racing starts for me. “It’s a big relief to get that stage behind us now, while keeping myself and Geraint at the front, and we’ll soak up the rest day tomorrow. “If you had offered me 1min 42sec off the lead, with none of my GC rivals up the road, at this stage, I would have taken it. We’re in a good position as we head into the Alps.” On a chaotic day of spillages and mechanical problems, Froome was grateful to climb back in the saddle after he slipped out of the cockpit 30 miles from home (right).

And France’s great hope Romain Bardet yielded only seven seconds to Froome on the day, despite suffering more punctures in three-and-a-half hours than a dartboard.

Birmingham-born Irishman Dan Martin, who crashed on Saturday, gasped: “What an amazing day. We picked our way through all the crashes and it wasn’t quite a Sunday in hell.

“But it was half a Sunday in hell.”

The stage was won by Germany’s John Degenkolb, who was seriously injured in a training ride two years ago when a British tourist, driving on the wrong side of the road in Spain, ploughed into six cyclists – who all survived.

At one point, Degenkolb’s injuries included a risk of losing his index finger, and he said: “This is a very emotional win for me.”

 ??  ?? GOING GETS TURF Chris Froome took a fall on a tight corner but escaped injury after landing on grass
GOING GETS TURF Chris Froome took a fall on a tight corner but escaped injury after landing on grass

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