10 Jul 2015

Crash spells end for Tour de France leader

6:43 am on 10 July 2015

The Tour de France leader Tony Martin has abandoned the race after breaking his collarbone in a sixth stage crash that also sent 2014 winner Vincenzo Nibali and others tumbling in the final 500 metres.

Briton Chris Froome, Team Sky's 2013 Tour winner, will take over as race leader going into tomorrow's seventh stage, a 190.5 km ride from Livarot to Fougeres.

He leads American Tejay van Garderen by 13 seconds.

Tour de France leader Tony Martin before the latest crash.

Tour de France leader Tony Martin (centre) suffered a broken collar bone in the latest crash. Photo: Photosport

After a few days of crashes and nervous racing the peloton took it relatively easy on the Normandy coastline until the last kilometre when Martin lost his balance and several leading contenders followed him down.

Among the casualties were Italian Nibali, Colombian Nairo Quintana and van Garderen as Martin's team mate, Zdenek Stybar of the Czech Republic, sprinted to victory in the 191.5-km leg from Abbeville to Le Havre.

Nibali had bruises on his knee while Quintana had blood on his arm.

Quintana's Movistar team mate Alejandro Valverde also crashed earlier in the stage, hurting his leg and buttocks. Both will continue the race, the team said.

Slovakian Peter Sagan was second in the stage and France's Bryan Coquard took third place.

Regulations state that on a flat stage a rider held up in an incident in the final three km is credited with the same time as the winner.

That meant Martin retained the overall lead, until he withdrew, after being pushed by two team mates to the finish line.

"I was unlucky. I don't even remember how I went down. I touched the rear wheel of the rider in front of me (Coquard) but it's the Tour, luck and bad luck are always close," Martin told reporters.

Swiss Fabian Cancellara, who held the overall leader's yellow jersey earlier in the event, had to pull out because of a back injury after also crashing.

Froome narrowly escaped the latest carnage, managing to keep his balance while Nibali leaned on him as he fell.

Spain's Alberto Contador is seventh, 36 seconds behind, while Nibali is 12th.

"I don't know why this happened like this 500 metres from the line. I'm ok, my shoulder and my leg touched the ground," said Nibali.

Daniel Teklehaimanot became the first African to wear the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification after he grabbed precious points in the three minor climbs of the day.

The Tour de France could be all over for the leader Tony Martin who was involved in a chaotic crash in the final kilometre of stage six in Normandy.

The Tour de France could be all over for the leader Tony Martin who was involved in a chaotic crash in the final kilometre of stage six in Normandy.

The peloton was taking it easy along the coastline when Martin lost his balance, and a bunch of riders including the defending champion Vincenzo Nibali, went down like dominos.

Tour de France leader Tony Martin before the latest crash.

Tour de France leader Tony Martin (centre) before the latest crash. Photo: Photosport

The rules state that on a flat stage a rider held up in an incident in the final 3-km is credited with the same time as the winner, so German Martin retained the overall lead.

But he had to be pushed to the finish line by two teammates, and he's in doubt for tonight's 7th stage.

Martin leads Britain's 2013 champion Chris Froome by 12 seconds and the American Tejay Van Garderen is at 25 seconds.