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WATCH: Porte and Froome involved in bizarre Tour de France stage finish

Stage 12 of the Tour de France ended in bizarre circumstances. (Image: SBS)
Roar Guru
15th July, 2016
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Stage 12 of the Tour de France has descended into a farce, with Aussie Richie Porte and Chris Froome involved in a crash with a motorbike and Froome then running towards the finish line in the absence of a functioning bicycle.

Froome, the yellow jersey holder, Porte and Dutchman Bauke Mollema were in a three-way tussle with the finish line approaching, only for a motorbike in front of them to stop because of the crowd spilling onto the road.

» Re-live all of the chaos with our live blog of Stage 12

That left Porte with nowhere to go and the Aussie duly crashed into the back of the motorbike. Mollema was able to continue riding, but Froome’s bicycle was struck by another motorbike. Without a replacement at hand, the overall race leader decided to run towards the finish line, although he was finally given a replacement.

In the aftermath of the chaotic stage, Tour officials decided to award Froome and Porte the same stage time as Mollema. The decision meant Froome, who had fallen from top spot in the general classification standings, eventually retained the yellow jersey by the end of the day.

Froome currently holds a 47-second lead over fellow Brit Adam Yates, while Porte is in 11th, more than two minutes back from Froome.

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