CHRIS FROOME was involved in a mass pile-up at the Tour de France after a huge crash in the wet conditions in the 203.5km stage to Liege.
The Team Sky rider slid to the ground at roughly 20mph and the defending champion is now chasing his rivals.
The Olympic gold medalist was quick to dust himself down as he demanded a new bike and continued to compete.
A fellow favourite to win the tour, Romain Bardet, was also involved in the crash.
Froome insisted he was not seriously injured from the incident.
He told ITV4: “No injuries, thankfully. Just lost a little bit of skin from my backside.
“That’s the nature of the race. We knew it’s slippery conditions like that, every time the race comes on there’s a big risk something could happen and today there was just a touch of wheels, or someone slid just a few wheels ahead of me, and at those speeds you just can’t avoid it.
“I think a few of us went down but thankfully everybody’s okay and got to the finish all right without losing any time to our rivals, so that’s the main thing.”
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Froome’s fall comes after Alejandro Valverde fell in an awful crash, which meant he had to abandon the tour after going to hospital.
The Spaniard also slipped in wet conditions but at 34mph and went on to collide into a metal barrier.
Marcel Kittel won the stage after Geraint Thomas won the opening time trial on Saturday.
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