Tour de France 2017: Rigoberto Uran Wins Stage 9, Richie Porte Involved in Crash

Rigoberto Uran of Cannondale-Drapac took a narrow win in Sunday's Stage 9 of the 2017 Tour de France, but the race was overshadowed by a heavy crash involving BMC's Richie Porte.

Porte went down in the descent of Mont du Chat and was taken away by ambulance, ending his bid to win the yellow jersey.

Here's a look at the stage results, via the Inner Ring:

The current overall standings:

Recap

Sunday's stage was regarded as perhaps the toughest of the entire race, with three climbs of hors categorie. The final ascent up Mont du Chat was brutal, as shared by the Tour UK's official Twitter account:

With the weather forecast predicting rain throughout the day, the many descents also presented a problem, and crashes were expected.

Tim Wellens attacked as soon as the stage got underway, and Thibaut Pinot followed suit, testing Team Sky's ability to control the peloton. Manuele Mori and Robert Gesink soon abandoned after a crash, and Geraint Thomas suffered a similar fate, per Sky Sports News HQ:

His absence was a big loss for Sky, who were put under serious pressure throughout the day. Roberto Contador also hit the tarmac, but the veteran was able to continue.

Fabio Aru attacked from a long way out on Mont du Chat, in response to a mechanical issue for Chris Froome. Former professional cyclist Matt Stephens noticed:

The other top contenders respected the unwritten rules of the peloton, however, catching up to the Italian and immediately stopping. Sky were able to bring their leader back in a hurry.

But once Froome returned, the race burst open. Aru, Daniel Martin and Porte took turns going right at the yellow jersey, and Froome wasn't afraid to attack himself. The Inner Ring explained just how challenging some sections of the mountain were:

"

Porte attacks, it's so steep here that to accelerate takes a huge amount of energy. Dan Martin in trouble. Froome attacks

— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 9, 2017"

The leaders reached the summit together, but in the descent, Porte took a bad angle into a corner and suffered a heavy crash, taking Martin with him. The Australian slammed into the rock face and needed lengthy medical assistance before departing the mountain in an ambulance.

William Fotheringham of the Guardian reported Porte is out of the race following the crash.

Per Stephens, it's been a rough Tour for crashes:

Romain Bardet slipped away in the descent and quickly built a 30-second gap, while Froome was completely isolated but got plenty of help from his rivals. The group came together again in the final kilometer, and Warren Barguil seemed to edge everyone in the sprint.

A photo finish showed Uran beat him to the finish line by the width of a tyre, however, with Froome taking third place.