Thomas and Porte crash out as Froome extends lead after a day of chaos on the Tour

Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte crashed out of the Tour de France on a chaotic, incident-strewn day which saw Chris Froome extend his lead in the yellow jersey as Rigoberto Uran won stage nine.

The 181.5 kilometre stage from Nantua to Chambery had it all: a succession of crashes, Fabio Aru attacking the yellow jersey when Froome had a mechanical problem, and Uran beating Warren Barguil in a photo finish despite losing the use of most of his gears in the finale.

Amid all of that, several contenders shipped time after seven categorised climbs – three of them hors categorie – and 4,700 metres of ascent.

When the dust settled, Froome’s lead in yellow increased from 12 seconds to 18 – now over Astana’s Aru rather than his Sky team-mate Thomas – after he finished third in a six-man sprint to take the final bonus seconds.

Thomas, pictured, suffered a broken collarbone in a crash on the damp descent of the Col de la Biche, the first hors categorie climb of the day, while there was clear concern for Porte after a frightening highspeed crash on the way down the Mont du Chat.

The Australian was travelling at 72.5km/h when he ran onto the grass on the inside of a corner, hit the deck and then slid across the road into an embankment, collecting Irishman Dan Martin of Quick-step Floors as he went.

There was no immediate word on the extent of Porte’s injuries, but BMC sports director Fabio Baldato said the 32-year-old had remained conscious.

The crashes were not the only cause of drama.

Froome suffered a mechanical problem on the way up the Mont du Chat, the last of three hors categorie climbs on the day, and as the three-time Tour winner was calling for the team car Aru attacked in a clear breach of cycling’s protocol. Froome’s other rivals followed the Italian, seemingly in order to remonstrate with him and tell him to wait.

Nairo Quintana’s ambitious Giro-tour double bid appears to be extracting a heavy price – the Colombian rider is now two minutes 13 seconds down in eighth while twotime Tour winner Alberto Contador slipped all the way to 12th after shipping four minutes.