Tony Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) cradles his left arm after crashing on stage 6(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) rolls in after a crash in the final kilometer(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tony Martin was pushed to the finish by his Etixx-Quickstep teammates(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tony Martin was pushed to the finish by his Etixx-Quickstep teammates(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tour de France leader Tony Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) finished stage 6 of the Tour de France with assistance from his teammates after being involved in a crash in the final kilometer. He was pushed to the line, cradling his left shoulder and his future in the race could be in doubt.
The German swerved during the build up to the final climb, taking down Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and several others. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) was fortunate to land on top of the pile of riders, but Quintana was underneath and suffered injuries to his right arm. Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) was also on the ground, but the team confirmed his injuries were minor. Chris Froome (Team Sky) appeared to just miss the wreck, but said on Twitter that he got out with a minor graze to his knee.
The Etixx-Quickstep team could be consoled that Zdenek Stybar soloed to the stage victory, but if Martin abandons it will ruin their ambition to win the team time trial on stage 9.
Martin explained after the stage what caused the crash. "I touched the back wheel of a Europcar rider. It was stressful like always. I can’t really remember but as usual with crashes when they are not at high speed, normally the injuries are the worst," he said.
He then went off to the X-ray truck to check on his collarbone. More to come.
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