His mobile phone pressed against his ear, Team Sky directeur sportif Nicolas Portal was only beginning to piece together the full story of stage 19 of the Tour de France as he stepped out of the team car past the finish line above Saint-Gervais.
"I have no idea how he is. It was a really intense day, I think he fell," Portal told the small knot of reporters that tightened around him as he wrapped up his phone call.
In the shadow of Mont Blanc, snowy and serene as ever it was, had come a reminder that the Tour de France is a force of nature, one capable of escaping even the control of Team Sky. For more than a week, Chris Froome has been easing towards final overall victory, but when his wheels slipped from under him 13 kilometres from the end of stage 19, there was suddenly space for doubt.
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Unlike at Mont Ventoux a week ago, when Froome was brought down by a television motorbike and compelled to run part of the way up the mountain, he at least had a teammate on hand to furnish him with a replacement bike. Geraint Thomas handed over his machine and pushed his leader on his way, though Froome's yellow jersey was torn and his back bloodied.
"We didn't have television pictures but I know he switched bikes with G [Thomas] because they have more or less the same measurements," Portal said. "We were a long way back with the car. We thought we might have time to get up to Chris and give him a new bike before the final climb, but it wasn't possible so he did the whole climb on G's bike. It wasn't quite the same set-up in terms of handlebars and so on, but he was able to go up the climb on it. I spoke with him on the radio to see if he wanted a change of bike, but it was difficult to communicate."
Climb
Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) was already on the attack up ahead when the yellow jersey fell and en route to stage victory, while Fabio Aru's Astana team was setting a brisk tempo at the head of the shrinking group of favourites, though Froome was able to latch back on as the final haul of Le Bettex began.
Finish
- Tour de France: Bardet wins summit to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc
- Tour de France: Stage 19 finish line quotes
- Tour de France stage 19 highlights - Video
- Tour de France: Chris Froome survives crash, finishes on Thomas' bike
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