Martin wins 4th stage of Tour and takes overall lead
Froome added: “I don’t know how much you can read into what happened today, but it’s great to be in the yellow jersey“. “I may look calm on the outside but I assure you I’m not. I just couldn’t be happier to be in yellow going into the cobbled stage tomorrow”.
Froome’s pursuit of Rodriquez proved enough to see him move into the yellow for the first time since he was confirmed as the victor of the race in 2013, with his time bonus at the finish moving him a second clear of second place Tony Martin of Germany, who narrowly missed out on the race lead for the second consecutive day.
Henderson lies 162nd overall, 16min 19sec behind the yellow jersey, Chris Froome, who avoided the crash to finish the stage second behind Rodriguez.
“There weren’t any more ambulances, nor medics to ensure the riders up front could get help”, said Tour director Christian Prudhomme in justifying the decision.
Fabian Cancellara has withdrawn from the Tour de France after fracturing two vertebrae in the horrific crash that interrupted Monday’s stage three from Antwerp to Mur de Huy.
“Due to the extraordinary circumstances of the crash at a very high speed, the race was neutralized to allow the injured riders to be back in the peloton”.
The end result was a tangled mess of bikes, spewed in all directions on the side of the road, while some riders lay on their backs in the grass and others were curled up in agony on the hot tarmac.
Bonnet suffered a broken cervical vertebrae in the crash and has been taken to Paris where he will undergo surgery to stabilise his neck.
Among those involved were three-time stage victor Simon Gerrans of Australia and the wearer of the white jersey for best young rider Tom Dumoulin of The Netherlands, with both men being forced to abandon the race alongside Bonnet.
Fans of Britain’s Christopher Froome wait for the pack to pass…
The stage re-started for good with about 50 kilometres (31 miles) remaining.
Approaching cobble section No. 5, Froome survived a scare when he went on the outside of Katusha rider Jacopo Guarnieri, who squeezed him for space.
Vincenzo Nibali and his Astana team mate Lars Boom attacked repeatedly on the cobbles hoping to shake Froome but all the defending champion got was the prize for the most aggressive rider of the day.
Chris Froome wears the yellow jersey after a wonderful display of prowess in Stage 3, evading the crash.
Froome followed too, but not in time to overhaul Rodriguez, who celebrated victory, as the Briton enjoyed a second successive profitable day after exploiting splits in the bunch on Sunday. Frenchman Alexis Vuillermoz took a surprise third on the stage ahead of Ireland’s Dan Martin with Tony Gallopin next over the line.
The day’s final two climbs – 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) – up Cote de Cherave and the famed Mur de Huy featured on this year’s Fleche Wallonne (Walloon Arrow) classic.
Nibali has a 1min 50sec gap to the lead with Quintana at 2min 08sec but the Movistar leader will have been relieved he didn’t lose any more time to Froome.
“Froome is very strong, he nearly won the stage”.
The Tour continues on Tuesday with a potentially hazardous 223.5km fourth stage from Seraing to Cambrai containing 13.3km of cobbled roads.