Geraint Thomas crashes out of Tour de France but Chris Froome holds lead on mixed day for Team Sky

On one of the Tour's toughest stages, Thomas' participation was ended by a suspected broken collarbone

Chris Froome had an eventful but eventually profitable stage (Getty)

Team Sky’s rollercoaster Tour de France continued apace on Sunday as Chris Froome strengthened his overall lead but his team-mate Geraint Thomas crashed out with a suspected broken collarbone.

On a ferociously difficult, crash-littered, mountain stage across the Jura, one of the most serious accidents came when Froome’s arch-rival Richie Porte fell heavily on the lethal descent of the Col du Chat, skidding into a rockface and injuring his head. Porte was transported to hospital in an ambulance, but initial reports say he is out of danger.

By this point, Thomas had already skidded and crashed badly on the rain-soaked drop off the first major climb of the day, the Col de la Biche. With his right side badly bruised and cut, Thomas began riding again, but abandoned shortly afterwards.

After winning the Tour’s opening time trial and leading the race for four days, Thomas has already fallen three times in this year’s Tour, on stage two, four and again on stage eight and has at least six bad falls in his career. The most recent came in the 2017 Giro d’Italia, when Thomas struck a badly parked police motorbike and abandoned with knee injuries.

Individually Froome, meanwhile, had had an eventful but eventually profitable stage. However, when the Sky leader was forced to change bikes on the lung-burstingly steep Col du Chat, the most crucial climb of the day, it briefly looked as if the Tour leader could be in serious difficulty.

However, the Briton was able to regain contact as his rivals eased up to wait - in a gesture of fair play praised by Froome later - and began launching a series of attacks that shredded the field.

Whilst double Tour winner Alberto Contador, who had fallen twice, was already in serious difficulties, another top contender, triple Tour podium finisher Nairo Quintana also lost contact. By the summit, of the favourites only Porte, Ireland’s Dan Martin, France’s Romain Bardet and Italian challenger Fabio Aru were able to stay with the Briton.

Froome led from the front on the perilous descent that saw Martin fall twice, once when he became entangled with Porte. But whilst the Australian was hurt - “it was more fear than damage” a race medic told French television - the Irishman could continue.

Froome joined forces with two of his rivals to chase down a dangerous late attack by expert descender Bardet. But even if he could not take the final six-way sprint, won narrowly by Colombian Rigoberto Uran, third place for Froome enabled him to stretch his advantage over his most immediate rivals.

Thomas had already fallen three times in this year’s Tour (Getty)

“I’ve definitely got mixed feelings today,” Froome said afterwards “Of course I'm happy to still be in the jersey but at the same time that was a crazy, brutal stage.”

“Yesterday I said I expected the general classification to get blown open and it has in a lot of ways.”

Froome denied that there had been any kind of an on-race spat with Fabio Aru, who initially attacked when he had his mechanical fault. Froome then appeared to converge on the Italian at a corner, who was forced to drop back.

“I had a wobble on a switchback, it was in no way a swipe at Aru for attacking or anything like that. I lost my steering round the corner.”

Reflecting on the way the crashes had ripped apart the race, Froome said: “For us losing Geraint is a massive hit and for the race to lose Richie Porte is also a big blow. Nobody wants to see a big contender go out the way he did.”