Geraint Thomas, left, and Chris Froome will have a job explaining this one....
When Chris Froome stopped for a pee and a bike change at a crucial part of the men’s Olympic road race today, many felt his chances of a medal had disappeared up the road.
With some 100 kilometres to go and two dangerous groups off the front, the three-time Tour de France champion stopped for a comfort break and changed bike and took on food while he was at it.
There seemed to be no indication he had had a mechanical, instead he was likely changing to a more climbing-specific bike, given the three hilly circuits they were about to encounter.
No matter, he received a new bike (see below) and he was lucky that teammate Geraint Thomas pulled over to help pace him back up.
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Adam Yates leads the group going for 12th; Martin is just behind him but Froome came around both.
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But the live TV images and photos that appeared during and after the race of both drafting back on looked awful, especially considering this is the Olympics when a huge number of people who don't normally watch bike races will have tuned in.
The gap between the riders and the back of the group ahead was also huge, meaning the tow back was almost certainly the difference between getting back on or not.
Riders often receive tows behind cars after crashing; a blind eye is turned and rightly so. But Froome did not have a crash and for all the world (literally) the drafting back on seemed part of his bike change-comfort break plan.
To add insult to injury, Froome out-sprinted Dan Martin for 12th at the finish, with Thomas just ahead of both in 11th, despite a crash coming off the final climb.
No racing cyclist would begrudge anyone a tow on the bumper of a car back to a bunch after a mishap.
But when you're the Tour de France champion and you're choosing to stop rather than being forced to because of bad luck, you really are pushing your luck.
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