Thursday's 12th stage of the Tour de France saw one of the most bizarre endings in the race's long history. Overall leader Chris Froome damaged his bike in a crash near the end of the stage, then ditched the bike and decided to make a run for the finish line before eventually getting a replacement ride.
Not surprisingly, there was some harsh social media reaction from prominent names in the cycling world about the bizarre ending and the lack of crowd control that led to the very dangerous conditions, especially in that tight part of the course.
This is defently not what cycling need.the best of the best fighting and get stop it.not enough #barriers for saefty pic.twitter.com/LAw8SzqLPm
— Fabian cancellara (@f_cancellara) July 14, 2016
Oh wauw, this Tour is just everything.... Every day something new.. This is unheard of and unseen before... Lets wait for Jurydecision
— Jens Voigt (@thejensie) July 14, 2016
Unthinkable in the world biggest bike race... Fix it, less motorbikes and barriers to stop disrespectful spectators #tdf
— Damien Howson (@damien_howson) July 14, 2016
Anyone up for calculating the cost of crowd barriers vs the profit generated by the TdF? Of which the riders receive zero...
— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) July 14, 2016
@LeTour @chrisfroome @UCI_cycling No Excuses. Start listening to the riders
— Levi Leipheimer (@LeviLeipheimer) July 14, 2016
Some did have a more lighthearted view of the incident, though.
Froome today. pic.twitter.com/jHxFFhICZP
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) July 14, 2016
Someone found a Pokemon up on Ventoux #TDF2016
— Taylor Phinney (@taylorphinney) July 14, 2016
Froome's crash and dash on Thursday was just the latest in a series of odd moments in this year's Tour de France. Adam Yates was injured in last Friday's seventh stage after an inflatable sign collapsed on him.