Briton’s ‘will to win’ hailed amid stage 12 chaos
Print Edition
NO matter what happens on the 2016 Tour de France it will forever be remembered for Chris Froome running on foot up Mont Ventoux in the yellow jersey.
The world’s most prestigious bicycle race threw up scenes of pandemonium, and even comedy, like never before.
A late change to the intended finish on the iconic Ventoux mountain saw the 12th stage on Thursday cut by 6 kilometers for safety reasons.
Dangerously strong wind at the Ventoux summit reaching 130km per hour in the early afternoon forced organizers to bring the finish line 6km down the mountain, a decision taken less than 24 hours before the stage finish.
With such a late change, organizers didn’t have time to replace the safety barriers normally placed in the final few km of the stage. It meant that almost right up to the new finish line, fans could crowd by the roadside unhindered.
Chaotic scenes met the favorites as they rode up towards the finish to such an extent that a motorbike following the race was blocked by a wall of fans.
Australian Richie Porte couldn’t brake in time and crashed into the back of the motorcycle with Froome and Bauke Mollema following suit.
Another motorbike ran over Froome’s bike, breaking that and leaving him with nothing to ride.
With his team car stuck in traffic further down the mountain, Froome did the only thing he could think of, and took off on foot towards the finish.
“When I thought I had seen everything in cycling: Will to win!! Good decision to keep @chrisfroome with yellow jersey,” said Portuguese former world champion Rui Costa on Twitter.
Froome’s single-minded desire struck many as much as the comical scenes of a running cyclist.
Millions of stunned television viewers could barely believe their eyes as pictures of the tall, gangly Briton running along the road in his cycling shoes — known as clips — were beamed into their homes.
Almost immediately, the social media reaction went into overdrive.
A picture of Kenya-born Froome was superimposed onto another of Kenyan runners, producing the comical effect of the helmeted cyclist in his yellow jersey running alongside athletes.
Even his own team could see the funny side as Sky manager Dave Brailsford joked on French television: “Maybe next year he’ll run the Paris marathon!”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
