Belgian Thomas de Gendt won stage 12 of Tour de France, but defending champion Chris Froome stole the highlight of the day as he was forced to run without a bike after crashing with a motorbike less than one kilometre from the finish line on one of the most iconic climbs of the Tour.
He lost his yellow jersey for a while but was later reinstated as the table topper in the general classifications standings after a review which saw him extend his lead over second placed compatriot Adam Yates.
Chris was comfortably climbing towards the finish line at Chalet Reynard on Mont Ventoux after covering a distance of 178 km from starting point Montpellier when Richie Porte ran into the back of a motorbike, which resulted in Froome and Bauke Mollema crashing into the Australian with all three cyclists falling off their bikes.
After the crash, Froome started off on foot as he waited for a replacement bike. He switched to a third bike from his team car after riding a replacement bike that was too small for him for about 200m, and eventually managed to cross the finish line shaking his head.
Thomas de Gendt of Team Lotto Soudal finished first, followed by Serge Pauwels of Team Dimension Data who came second in the race. Day 15 will see cyclists compete in stage 13 of the race, covering a distance of 37.5km from Bourg-Saint-Andéol to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc in the individual time trial stage.
| S.No | Cyclist/Team | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | 1 |
| 2 | Adam Yates (GBr) ORICA-BikeExchange | 2 |
| 3 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek - Segafredo | 3 |
| 4 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | 4 |
| 5 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 5 |
