Tour de France leader Chris Froome had to sprint up one of the most difficult portions of the course on foot Thursday after a collision with a motorcycle left him without a bike for a short time.
It was actually another rider who crashed into the back of the camera-wielding motorbike, but the accident caused a pileup that sent Froome and others to the ground.
Rather than risk losing his lead to gather his bike, Froome decided to sprint up Mont Ventoux in an attempt to remain in front.
Someone eventually ran up beside Froome to give him a bike, and he was able to finish the portion of the race. Running on foot at the Tour de France is actually legal as long as you have your bike when crossing the finish line. Initial reports indicated Froome had lost his lead as a result of the crash, but he later tweeted that he still had the lead after awaiting a ruling from officials.
Still in the #YellowJersey #TDF
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 14, 2016
We’ve seen far nastier crashes at the Tour de France like this incident involving a barbed wire fence, but that was definitely a bizarre turn of events.
H/T Business Insider
