Climbing Catastrophe: Chris Froome Brought Down by Motorcycle Collision in Tour de France Stage 12

Climbing Catastrophe: Chris Froome Brought Down by Motorcycle Collision in Tour de France Stage 12
Richie Porte, Chris Froome, and Bauke Mollema fight their way through the crowd in the final kilometer of Stage 12 of the 2016 Tour de France, seconds before the trio crashed headlong into a TV motorcycle. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) Sky's Chris Froome, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, right, Trek-Segafredo’s Bauke Mollema, center, and BMC’s Richie Porte crash at the end of Stage 12 of the Tour de France, Thursday, July 14, 2016. Bernard Papon/ Pool Photo via AP
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The final several hundred meters of the Stage 12 of the 2016 Tour de France will always be remembered, not for the tremendous battle between race leader Chris Froome  and his former team mate Richie Porte, not For Froome and Porte attacking and dropping pre-race favorite Nairo Quintana, not for the tremendous ride of stage winner Thomas DeGendt.

The final minute of the climb up Mont Ventoux will always be remembered as the day Sky’s team leader Chris Froome had to run up the mountain without a bike after a TV motorcycle caused a three-bike collision which sidelined the top General Classification contenders.

Race organizers decided to move the finish line six kilometers down the mountain because of 50-mph winds at the summit of Mont Ventoux, the original finish line. Apparently the organizers didn’t have time—or didn’t recognize the obvious need—to line the route up to the finish line with barriers to keep the crowd back.

Richie Porte, Chris Froome, and Bauke Mollema fight their way through the crowd in the final kilometer of Stage 12 of the 2016 Tour de France, seconds before the trio crashed headlong into a TV motorcycle. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Richie Porte, Chris Froome, and Bauke Mollema fight their way through the crowd in the final kilometer of Stage 12 of the 2016 Tour de France, seconds before the trio crashed headlong into a TV motorcycle. AP Photo/Peter Dejong