Chris Froome may be licking his wounds after stage 1 of the Tour de France. But this video shows he was very lucky not to crash out of the race.
Video Chris Froome crash stage 1 Tour de France
He may have lost 51 seconds to most of his rivals at the Tour de France but the crash suffered by Chris Froome could have easily ended his race.
The bunch was hurtling along at the time, with Froome trying to hold his place on the outside of the group.
However, as he tried to move up he as accidentally nudged to the right by Rick Zabel.
And that saw Froome veer off the road and onto the grass. His bike hit a bollard, though Froome himself missed it.
The incident occurred with 4km remaining. And while Froome got back up and going again, he never regained the peloton.
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However, the video below shows how lucky he was to miss the post or bollard by the roadside. Had he hit it, it may have been lights out for the reigning champion on stage 1.
You can view the crash in the first clip below. Furthermore, the full on-board highlights from the opening stage is contained in the second video.
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The @VelonCC onboard cameras captured the moment @chrisfroome went down on stage one. It's a long way to Paris though #TDF2018 #VelonLive pic.twitter.com/p994q4jhRo
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 7, 2018
"Thankfully I'm OK, I feel fine," Froome said at stage end. "There were a lot of crashes out there today but it was just one of those things.
"These few days are going to be tricky and sketchy and that's part of the game unfortunately.
"We were right at the front of the peloton in the top third. There wasn't much more the guys could have done.
"It was getting quite chaotic with the sprint teams but that's bike racing.
"I'm just grateful I'm not injured in any way and there is still a lot of road to follow before we get to Paris."
Watch the best of the on-bike footage from Stage 1 of the Tour de France, including a crash for @TeamSky's @chrisfroome and a sprint win for @quickstepteam's @FndoGaviria ?#TDF2018 #VelonLive pic.twitter.com/B3uQxpupgF
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 7, 2018
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