In a bizzare final kilometre of Stage 12, overall leader Chris Froome (Sky) and Richie Porte (BMC) rode into a stalled motorbike, which had been blocked by fans who were out of control.
The stage had already been shortened by six kilometres due to winds of over 100km/h forecast at the summit. Organisers were forced to relocate all the end-of-stage infrastructure at the last minute, but there were not enough barriers in place to hold back the frenzied crowd.
While Porte lost time with a wheel change, Froome lost even more time. His bike was run over by a second motorbike and lost within the crowd. In response, he channeled his inner Forrest Gump and started to run to the finish line instead.
First came shock.
Then came despair.
Team-mate Geraint Thomas commented that it was the obvious thing to do.
Pretty quickly the sound of the roaring crowd was replaced with other iconic soundtracks.
Then came this; straight to our #SBSTDF team.
Sometimes music wasn't even needed, a simple doctored image was enough.
This guy did it better.
Impressed with his form, people quickly saw Froome's pre-Olympic potential should his bike stay lost in the crowd.
Others seemed to think the moto incident was just a decoy.
Froome's bike was eventually found, but rumour has it, the UCI got to work and checked it for a motor. There had to be some reason he was so far ahead of his biggest rivals (and the neutral support vehicle).
While fans remain divided about the real reasons for Froome's latest athletic display, none question his resolve. Recognising the speed penalty that comes with running in cleats, Tour organisers adjusted his finish time to account for the chaos. The Tour's defending champion holds on to the overall lead after another drama filled day.
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