SAINT-GERVAIS LES BAINS (FRANCE) - Chris Froome said his crash on Friday's 19th stage of the Tour de France proved the race is never over until the finish line in Paris is crossed.
Great Britain's Christopher Froome celebrates his overall leader yellow jersey on the podium at the end of the 146 km nineteenth stage of the 103rd edition of the Tour de France cycling race on July 22, 2016
Froome ended the 146km Alpine stage on team-mate Geraint Thomas's bike with a ripped jersey, while he went up to the podium after the race with a heavily-bandaged knee.
Despite crashing on a slippery descent and finishing the stage ninth at 36sec behind Romain Bardet, who is now second overall at 4min 11sec, Froome actually extended his lead in a race most observers had already declared sewn up.
But he said events on the mountainous stage from Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc showed how unpredictable sport can be.
"Ironically, I was trying to stay safe but I hit one of the white lines and lost my front wheel," said Froome.
"I'm OK, I'm lucky nothing is seriously injured. I lost some skin and banged my knee a little bit but today I'm grateful to have that four minute advantage to fall on a little bit."
Several riders crashed in the final 30km as falling rain made the roads treacherous.
"Today showed exactly why I thought the Tour was not over," added Froome.
"A crash like that, I'm really grateful nothing is seriously injured but it could have gone either way. There is never a quiet day on the Tour.
"Tomorrow will be hard, I'm sure I'm going to be a bit sore and stiff from today but hopefully I can rely on my team-mates and just one last push again to get through tomorrow's stage now."
- 'Fairytale' -
One of the worst affected riders to crash was Bauke Mollema, who also skidded off the road a second time.
"I started the climb with a gap, 20 seconds back and I couldn't close it," he lamented. "At the bottom, I tried to come back, I had to try and close it there as fast as I could, otherwise it would have been difficult."
He added: "I couldn't close it and I just exploded."
He lost more than four minutes by the finish and dropped from second overall to 10th.
It was a rare day of excitement on an otherwise sterile Tour, although that was mostly due to the weather provoking crashes.
Bardet said he had been fed up of hearing criticism of the race.
"I felt a bit bitter hearing negative comments during this Tour, that there were no attacks, that it was soporific," said the 25-year-old Frenchman.
"But we were all at our limits. I knew I was in the form of my life, I was just waiting for clarity, without setting a plan.
"Now I want to enjoy this and see how thigs go."
Last year Bardet won stage 18 and then held the climbers' polkadot jersey after the following stage.
But he failed to hold onto it and said he has learnt from his mistakes this time around.
"Last year I was thinking mostly about defending the polkadot jersey and I didn't sleep that night," he revealed.
"I'm not going to give up, that's for sure and if I'm on the podium in Paris, it will be a fairytale."
As Mollema and young Briton Adam Yates floundered -- they started the day second and third but finished it 10th and fourth respectively, Nairo Quintana also moved up onto the podium into third spot, at just 16sec behind Bardet.
But the Colombian said he had come close to giving up.
"It was a miracle from God that I could be here (at the finish). I'm feeling really bad and it's difficult to explain what's happening in my body," said the 26-year-old, who was second to Froome in 2013 and 2015.
"We fought all day long on the climb, I suffered a lot."
He added: "My body's not OK, my legs aren't responding, I'm finishing stages as if everything's OK but my body's not responding."