11 riders crash in stage 9 of Tour de France

Stage 9 of the 2017 Tour de France from Nantua to Chambéry, 181.5 km long, saw 11 riders crash, including two famous athletes, Richie Porte (Australia/BMC Racing) and Geraint Thomas (England/Sky), who had to leave the race with serious injuries.

Cyclist Richie Porte receives medical attention after his accident. Photo: Getty Images

Stage 9 has 7 times the riders have to overcome dangerous mountain passes, 3 of which are considered the most difficult to conquer in the tournament. Therefore, it is not surprising that stage 9 is the most fierce stage at this year's Tour de France.

According to statistics from The Guardian (UK), at the end of stage 9, 11 cyclists had accidents with injuries of varying severity. Notably, the injuries that forced two riders Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas to leave the Tour de France were the ones that caused them to leave.

Porte, considered one of the main rivals of reigning champion Chris Froome at this year's Tour de France, unfortunately had an accident while going downhill at 72km/h. Porte was taken to hospital in a neck brace.

Video clip of Porte's accident on stage 9. Source: Youtube

However, doctors said Porte's injury was not serious. Meanwhile, Froome's Sky teammate and second-placed rider Geraint Thomas suffered a broken collarbone in an accident.

Technology determined that Uran (right) won by just a split second over Barguil. Photo: TDF

The absence of Thomas will be a heavy loss for the Sky team and Froome personally in the journey to defend the championship. Since the beginning of the race, Thomas has been the most effective support for Froome in defending the yellow jersey. Thomas won the first stage and held the yellow jersey until it belonged to Froome after stage 4.

Stage 9 was won by Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/ Cannondale) in 5:07.22, just a hair's breadth quicker than second-placed Warren Barguil (France/ Sunweb).

Barguil even cried in celebration at the finish line, but when reviewing the 10,000 frames per second camera, the organizers determined that the victory belonged to Uran.

The yellow jersey after the 9th stage still belongs to Froome with a total time of 38 hours 26.28 minutes, second place is cyclist Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) with 18 seconds more.

According to TTO