The 2017 Tour de France is in full swing and if there is something that is synonymous with the greatest and most prestigious cycling race in the world, it’s lots and lots of crashes.

With 198 riders taking part and everyone scratching and clawing their way to get the best out of themselves or their team, there’s bound to be some crashes. Add a lot of rain and you have slick European roads and roundabouts cyclists have to maneuver and that can spell disaster.

That’s exactly what happened to back-to-back and three time champion Chris Froome during Stage 2. As Team Sky was trying to protect him, as well as current Tour leader and teammate Geraint Thomas, a crash occurred toward the front of the peloton while negotiating a roundabout and took out most of the riders.

Shockingly, there were no injuries. Yesterday, in the opening time trial in Dusseldorf, Germany, Alejandro Valverde and Ion Izagirre abandoned due to crashes. Luke Durbridge also crashed but tried to keep going. He later abandoned during Stage 2.

The crash was far enough away that the riders who crashed were able to catch up to the peloton. Usually, it’s agreed that riders not try and take advantage of another competitors misfortune to pick up time on them. So the leaders slowed down until everyone caught up and went back to racing. Froome got back to the pack and he is expected to be bruised but fine. The suits cyclists wear are rather thin and don’t have much padding. So if you crash, you’re essentially crashing your body into the ground and if you’re not injured, you just hope that your suit doesn’t rip to reveal something that should be kept covered.

The end of the stage was a showcase of the sprinters as Marcel Kittel won in Liege, Belgium and won the Green Jersey for the points finishers. Almost everyone finished in the same group as the leader so they all got the same time and Thomas kept his Yellow Jersey for at least another day. American Taylor Phinney, who is in his first Tour de France, was in the breakaway and got enough points on the small mountains to win the Polka Dot Jersey for the best climber. Stefan Küng has the White Jersey for best young rider.

[SB Nation/Photo: @chrisfroome]

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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