Tour de France: Porte abandons after crash

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Richie Porte (BMC Racing) has abandoned the 2017 Tour de France after crashing hard on the descent off the Mont du Chat climb. Porte misjudged a left-hand bend, going off the road and then popping back onto the tarmac and taking Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) down with him.

Martin quickly remounted and was back in the race, but Porte lay on the ground receiving medical support. NBC Sports reported that Portle was conscious and alert, asking photographers to back off and give him room. Porte was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher.

At the team bus in the aftermath of the stage, BMC were cautious about giving an update on Porte's condition, and they sent out directeur sportif Fabio Baldato to answer a couple of questions from the gathered media. 

"I can only say he was conscious from the beginning. We were a couple of minutes behind, and when we got there with my eyes I saw him in pain. We need to wait for the doctor but the important thing is that he was conscious." said the Italian.

"We are all sad. Richie did a lot of work for this Tour de France since the start of the year. Recons, training camps, we did everything possible to put him on the podium. We put the whole team around him. For sure it's sad. I hope he can come back stronger. He deserved a good result."