Tour de France 2018: Richie Porte abandons with injury as Chris Froome suffers crash on stage nine cobbles
Stage nine of the Tour took its toll as a number of the leading contenders crashed on the treacherous cobblestones
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Your support makes all the difference.Chris Froome went headfirst into a grass verge and ended almost two minutes off yellow but could call Sunday a success as he survived a chaotic day on the Tour de France when others were not so lucky.
Since the route was announced in October, this 156.5km stage nine over the cobbles of northern France to Roubaix had been circled as the wildcard which could deliver a jolt to the race, and it did not disappoint.
John Degenkolb enjoyed his first career Tour stage win but the real action was taking place behind, where the goal for those aiming to be in yellow by Paris was simple: survive.
It was a losing battle for Richie Porte as the Australian saw yet another Grand Tour bid end prematurely. The BMC rider did not even make it to the first cobbled sector, hitting the deck after seven kilometres and departing in an ambulance with what has since been confirmed to be a fractured right clavicle.
But for Froome, it was a case of job done. The four-time Tour winner, aiming for a fourth successive Grand Tour victory, went straight on at a bend entering the eighth cobbled sector but recovered to finish in the main group.
His deficit to yellow grew to one minute 42 seconds as Greg Van Avermaet finished second to Degenkolb on the day, two parts of a trio 27 seconds ahead of Froome's group.
But the Briton was happy to take that as the only likely contender to have any significant time on him at the end of the first week is his team-mate Geraint Thomas, who sits second overall, 59 seconds ahead.
"It was a brutal stage, just brutal," Froome said. "It's a big relief to get that stage behind us.
"If you had offered me one minute 42 seconds off the lead, with none of my GC rivals up the road, I would have taken it. We're in a good position as we head into the Alps."
Hearing of Porte's crash would have brought back painful memories for Froome, who crashed out on a cobbled stage of the 2014 Tour, likewise not making it to the first sector himself
Froome was not alone in breathing a big sigh of relief. Movistar's Mikel Landa and Education First-Drapac's Rigoberto Uran also fell, while France's great hope, Romain Bardet of AG2R La Mondiale suffered five mechanical problems - three punctures and two bike changes - along the way.
His third flat tyre came at the end of the last cobbled sector just six kilometres from home when the pace - led by Froome - was fully on.
But Bardet was able to pace his way back alongside Landa and the duo lost just seven seconds to Froome's group.
The losses for Education First-Drapac's Uran were more considerable as he gave up almost 90 seconds to Froome and others.
At the end of it, Froome sits eighth, level on time with Mitchelton-Scott's Adam Yates and Landa in ninth and 10th.
The significance of this stage win to Degenkolb is huge. Three years ago he showed his calibre on these roads with victory in Paris-Roubaix, just a month after he won Milan-Sanremo.
But in 2016 the 29-year-old German came close to losing a finger amid a litany of injuries suffered when a car driving down the wrong side of the road wiped out him and several team-mates during a training ride in Calpe, Spain.
"I think it's fantastic, I can't find the right words to express how it feels to win," said Degenkolb, who now has stage wins in all three Grand Tours. "I've waited for this victory for so long.
"A lot of people didn't believe in me anymore and thought I wouldn't come back to the same level."
Degenkolb took the win by holding off Van Avermaet and Quick-Step Floors' Yves Lampaert in a sprint to the line after they had broken off the front of the peloton with 20km to go.
Although Van Avermaet retains yellow for now, it was in truth a dismal day for BMC. While Porte headed for hospital, their likely Plan B Tejay Van Garderen - who started the day just nine seconds off yellow - got himself caught up in crashes and conceded more almost six minutes to effectively rule himself out of contention. Van Avermaet is unlikely to keep the jersey for long once the race hits the mountains.
The riders now face a long transfer to Annecy, but have Monday's rest day before the race moves into the Alps and the true battle for yellow emerges, albeit without one of its biggest likely protagonists in Porte.
PA
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