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news
Philippe Gilbert after crashing on Stage 16 of 2016 Tour de France (picture credit ASO, Pauline Ballet)Chris Froome and Philippe Gilbert rescue Tour de France fan who crashed into ravine while riding down from yesterday’s finish
Imagine this scenario. You’re zooming down a descent after watching a Tour de France mountain stage, possibly imagining yourself emulating your heroes, when you overcook a bend and end up in a ravine below – and get rescued by two of the biggest names in the sport, four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, and former world champion and five-time Monument winner, Philippe Gilbert.
> Is Chris Froome still unhappy with his disc brakes?
That’s exactly what happened after yesterday’s Stage 17 of the race when a cyclist crashed as he rode back down the Col du Portet following overall leader Tadej Pogacar’s stage win that tightened his grip on the yellow jersey.
It was Gilbert himself who revealed what had happened, with the incident happening just 24 hours after the race had revisited the descent of the Col de Portet d’Aspet where he himself had crashed over a parapet while leading Stage 16 of the 2016 edition of the race – the picture above shows him being helped back onto the road.
> “I’ve had a lucky escape” – Philippe Gilbert on Tour de France horror crash (+ video)
In an interview with the Francophone Belgian TV channel RTBF, the Lotto-Soudal rider, who finished the stage more than half an hour after the winner, said: “On the Col du Portet, I was hugely encouraged, and I thank the fans for that, it’s heartwarming.
“The three of us – I was with Rick Zabel and Marco Haller – really benefited from the atmosphere.
“I can tell you that lots of things happen on a climb! On the descent, coming back down from the finish, I was following a cyclo-tourist who overshot a bend and ended up 20 metres further down.
“I stopped to help him with Chris Froome and Christopher Juul-Jensen,” he continued.
“There are things that aren’t known by the media, but yesterday I took almost 20 minutes to help this man!”
He added: “We called for help because he was still badly messed up. These are experiences that we also live through.”
We’re unable to find any update on the cyclist’s condition, but we wish him well.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Geordiepeddeler 2 hours 17 min ago
Cycling infrastructure does not force drivers to break the law, drivers are the reason they break the law, no one else.
- chrisonabike 2 hours 30 min ago
Ah but taking pictures of things to defy the man (avoid a fine) is righteous. Taking pictures of people to grass on them to the cops (perhaps...
- ktache 4 hours 20 min ago
But getting paid for it is the very definition of professional....
- ktache 4 hours 29 min ago
Never had a Shimano QR fail on me. They just work. And the top end ones look good too....
- Backladder 5 hours 15 min ago
If you're only looking at the guy in front of you then you're going to crash whatever brakes you have, you need to look beyond them to anticipate...
- jaysa 5 hours 40 min ago
As a woman, this works great for me! My chain broke once, and a kind guy stopped with a chain breaker and sorted it all out for me. We stopped at a...
- andystow 6 hours 32 min ago
Same. I also have gone through a bunch of their tyres, and only the extralight disappointed (torn sidewall) but the standards are fantastic....
- chrisonabike 8 hours 29 min ago
Indeed - but it's no more inconsistent than our current road design - very often UK high streets are "for shopping" and also a busy through route....
- mike the bike 9 hours 59 min ago
If you ask the world's leading economic commentators how many people have been rescued from abject poverty by capitalism the average answer would...
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3 comments
The photo above shows Phil Gil in QS colours, I'd guess it's from his crash in the 2018 Tour.
Juul-Jensen told the Cycling Podcast that he hadn't seen the guy crash but it was J-J that actually went down to the guy. They were all descending after the stage and his impression was that the rider was looking over his shoulder at Froome and didn't make the corner.
He and Froome said the guy was initially quite disorientated but seemed more bothered about his bike, which came to rest another 10 metres further down the hillside.
At least Froome has rescued something from this years tour...
Chapeau to all involved in helping. Would have been easy to ride on and assume someone else would help.