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Chris Froome’s chaotic, punch-filled week at the Tour de France

Jeffrey Chan
Britain's Chris Froome, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, right, Netherlands Bauke Mollema, center, and Australias Richie Porte crash at the end of the twelfth stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start in Montpellier and finish six kilometers (3.7 miles) before the Mont Ventoux, France, Thursday, July 14, 2016. The wind, combined with a temperature just above the freezing level on top of the "Giant of Provence," forced organizers to move the finish line six kilometers (3.7 miles) down the road to the Chalet Reynard. (Bernard Papon/ Pool Photo via AP)

It’s been a rough go of late for the defending Tour de France champion Chris Froome, but nothing he couldn’t overcome. The British rider showed this week that barring a major injury, nothing can stop him from holding onto that yellow jersey.

It began at the eighth stage of the race on Saturday where he felt he needed to “defend” himself against a Columbian flag-waving fan.

He took to Twitter later to defend his actions:

The Tour commissaries fined Froome 200 Swiss Francs for “inappropriate behavior,” an amount he was more than willing to pay:

“I accept it. I felt it was the right thing to do. He was dangerous at that moment,” Froome said. “There have been quite a few incidents with fans in the past few days. That’s just part of the sport, I guess.”

Fans continued to play a part in Froome’s race at the 12th stage with just over a kilometer to go. The roads were crowded by them, forcing a television motorbike ahead of Richie Porte, Bauke Mollema and Froome, who had distanced themselves from the pack, to suddenly slow down.

All three crashed as a result. Froome’s bike was damaged so he decided to run up Mount Ventoux in his cycling shoes.

Running in a bicycle race is considered illegal, but Froome told reporters he had no choice:

“I got hit from behind by another motorbike that broke my bicycle. I told myself, ‘I don’t have a bike and my car is five minutes behind with another bike – it’s too far away. I’m going to run a bit’.”

He was eventually given a replacement bike to finish the race, but the damage had been done. Froome had dropped to sixth in the standings, but the Tour ruled that the crash was a result of crowd congestion and his yellow jersey was reinstated.

The Brit finished second in the 13th stage, but extended his overall lead by one minute and 47 seconds.