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Tour de France leader crashes, runs towards finish (Video)

By Kevin Martuscello

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 26: Winner of the Tour Chris Froome of Great Britain and Team Sky wearing the yellow jersey and holding the polka dot jersey for best climber is surrounded by Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Tinkoff-Saxo wearing the green jersey for best sprinter (left) and Nairo Quintana of Colombia and Movistar Team wearing the white jersey for best young rider during the trophy ceremony, following stage twenty one of the 2015 Tour de France, a 109.5 km stage from Sevres to the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris on July 26, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 26: Winner of the Tour Chris Froome of Great Britain and Team Sky wearing the yellow jersey and holding the polka dot jersey for best climber is surrounded by Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Tinkoff-Saxo wearing the green jersey for best sprinter (left) and Nairo Quintana of Colombia and Movistar Team wearing the white jersey for best young rider during the trophy ceremony, following stage twenty one of the 2015 Tour de France, a 109.5 km stage from Sevres to the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris on July 26, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) /
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Tour de France leader Chris Froome crashes and leaves his bike behind as he ran toward the finish line.

Due to high winds, Tour de France organizers decided to cut the ascent of Mont Ventoux short on Thursday. General Director of the Tour Christian Prudhomme said of the high winds, “We can’t play a game of double or quit. We had a windy stage today and the forecast is for winds of over 100kph and cold weather. The safety of riders and spectators will be guaranteed.”

However, the abrupt stage adjustment lead to spectators beyond road barriers towards the finish line, resulting in congested areas on the course. Leader Chris Froome crashed into a stopped cameraman on a motorbike who was unable to navigate through the crowd.

In the chaos, Froome left his broken bicycle and took off on foot, which is illegal.

Richie Porte, who was in a lead group with Froome and also crashed was furious saying, “The crowd was all over the road and the motorbike just stopped, we had nowhere to go. [Froome] was on my wheel, he went straight into the back of me. We were 23 seconds ahead, it’s not fair… it can’t stand, surely the jury has to look at it and use a bit of discretion. The crowd is in your face the whole time, pushing riders… at the top, that was just crazy.”

Lance Armstrong was quick to comment, simply adding:

After a lengthy delay and much uncertainty, race officials decided that Froome would keep the yellow jersey with Froome confirming the news on Twitter:

Lost in the madness: Belgian Thomas de Gendt won Stage 12, his first career stage victory.

Check out our Tour de France hub page for more news and updates.

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