Defending Tour De France Champion Chris Froome Has Dropped Out Of The Race
AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani
The cycling world was stunned on Wednesday after seeing defending Tour de France champion Chris Froome abandon the race, NBC reported.
He quit after suffering several injuries in multiple crashes over the past two days.
Froome, 29, crashed twice on Wednesday's stage alone, which was raced in the rain.
He was able to get up off the ground and get into his team car, but he was clearly in lots of pain.
AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani
One of the world's top cyclists has to quit the world's greatest bike race.
It was just too much for him to continue racing.
On Tuesday's stage 4, Froome crashed hard and injured his left wrist. He was wearing a wrist brace on Wednesday as a result.
AP Photo/Christophe Ena/Business Insider
After crashing early on Tuesday's stage, Froome had lots of road rash and a badly injured wrist, which required a brace that made steering the bike difficult on Wednesday's rainy stage 5.
Froome, who was born in Kenya and later became a British citizen, was the main favorite to win the Tour de France again this year.
He looked devastated and emotional at having to quit.
On a stage that was feared for its cobblestones — which don't usually feature in the Tour — the riders were already crashing on the slick roads before even hitting the first cobbled section.
This is what the cobbles looked like for those who were able to reach them:
Behind, though, Froome crashed for the first time (he managed to continue for a bit after this):
GIF: Froome has crashed. #TdF http://t.co/DW4zQm6MEI
— peloton magazine (@pelotonmagazine) July 9, 2014
But as he raced on, the stress of trying to get into position before the cobbles created tension in the pack and rattled riders' nerves.
All this, coupled with the rain, meant disaster for Froome, who, again, was already injured and having to steer his bike with a brace.
Here's the moment he packed it in:
GIF: Froome abandons Tour de France, gets into car. #TdF http://t.co/Ty2olxlN5A
— peloton magazine (@pelotonmagazine) July 9, 2014
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