This is the moment when Chris Froome’s front wheel slid out on a bend during stage 19 of the Tour de France. Froome was forced to take Geraint Thomas’s bike to chase back on to the peloton.
New road surfaces and heavy rain meant that the stage was badly affected by crashes, but none was more dramatic than that involving the yellow jersey.
Chris Froome crashes on the Tour de France! Yellow jersey skids on a slippery corner… #TDF2016 https://t.co/z2L6MHtdlH
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) July 22, 2016
As the cameras followed Froome as he attempted to rejoin the favourites, a number of injuries could clearly be seen on his back. Thomas’s bike didn’t seem quite the right size for him, but at least he had access to one on this occasion.
12 thoughts on “Video: Chris Froome crashes on wet descent during stage 19”
Looks like it was on the
Looks like it was on the white line – slippery paint…?
Duncann wrote:
yes, I’m always wary of white lines when it’s wet…
Paul_C wrote:
Luca Paolini was much better on white lines, regardless of the weather.
Was almost too good to be
Was almost too good to be true: Froome going a whole grand tour without hitting the deck.
If you watch, Nibali’s wheel
If you watch, Nibali’s wheel stepped out on the tarmac, not on the white line, so the road itself must have been slick on that corner.
The tour almost got
The tour almost got interesting for a few minutes. Let’s hope tomorrow isn’t another Sky procession up a mountain.
Combination of wet roads
Combination of wet roads/white lines and tubs probably inflated too hard for the conditions plus being in a hurry 😉
I wonder if clinchers would have been better in the wet.
Jimnm wrote:
This have nothing to do with mounting system weather its clincher or tubular or tubeless or whatever . . .
When its slip, everything goes upside down in sec
Tires pressure play big role here as well, too hard and you lose grip exchanged for speed
Altimis wrote:
When its slip, everything goes upside down in sec
Tires pressure play big role here as well, too hard and you lose grip exchanged for speed
— AltimisI wondered whether the teams anticipated wet roads and altered pressures to suit? I would have, I’d always take the possibility (not inevitable) of a very slight increase in rolling resistance over running too high a pressure every time. Lots of people wrongly equate harder tyres = faster, even though it has been repeatedly shown not to be the case.
Jens said on ITV that Froome and Nibali were off the front of the group – they had attacked the group on a wet descent. Not the most sensible tactic if safety is your main goal, as Froome had stated before the stage.
There’s new tarmac all along
There’s new tarmac all along today’s route, some of it less than 48 hours old.
Unfortunately…Today it rained for the first time in a week meaning that the surface would get very slippery.
Jimnm wrote:
Not sure how tubs vs clinchers makes a difference. Tubs cross section is often more circular than clincher’s ‘U’ so some might say they were more ‘predictable’ at various lean angles. But irrelevant once you pass the friction limit. Which would be low on wet, newly laid tarmac
Should imagine the new Tarmac
Should imagine the new Tarmac was the prob’ very oily and slippery when new.
Bit like diesel on the road.
CF does hit the deck a lot, but he’s a winner and has a great team behind him (and in front of him if you know what I mean) he did well with downhill when he took the lead on the early stages.