There has been yet more tragic news emanating from France this morning as a lorry drove through unsuspecting crowds at a firework display in Nice last night in what is being reported as another terrorist attack.

And before the rider’s embarked on a 37km individual time-trial stage today, there was a minute silence for the victims of yet another atrocious attack in France.

But race director Christian Prudhomme said the stage would go on after he got assurances from police and other authorities, and much like the most of France, at the Tour de France today there will be a heightened presence of security.

Stage 12 recap - crash overshadows Thomas De Gendt's fine victory

But onto today’s action and after yesterday the organisers will be hoping nothing untoward happens again. The scenes on the slopes of Mont Ventoux were comical. With the crowds being dense and extremely close to the rider’s, it caused a motorbike to stop, and what followed next was something the organisers will want to forget in a hurry.

But for Richie Porte (BMC), Chris Froome (Team Sky), and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) the crash was at such an inconvenient time as they were gaining vital seconds.

But, after the motorbike stopped because of the thick crowds, the three rider's were unawares and collided straight into the back of the bike, causing utter chaos.

For Froome he resulted to running up part of the climb as his bike was useless after being snapped because of the impact. The crash was bad enough, but the timing was ironically impeccable as the trio were creating a sizeable gap to the other main GC contenders, most notable a 18 seconds lead over Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

But after it was all set and done, the race jury decided to give Porte, Froome, and Mollema the same time, and it means Froome is still the Yellow Jersey holder 47 seconds ahead of Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) and now 54 seconds ahead of Quintana.

Individual time trial another important day for the GC rider’s

The 37km course from Bourg-Saint-Andeol to La Caverne du Pont-D’Arc will be tough especially after a day like yesterday. But for rider's who have aspirations of catching Froome it could be a pivotal day in the battle for the jersey.

The course starts and ends with a climb; the Cote de Bourg-Saint-Andeol (6.9km, 4.9%) kicks things off, and then the finish line is atop of the La Caverne du Pont-D’Arc (3.3km, 4.7%) so this TT will certainly not be a stroll in the park.

Dumoulin could be a real contender for another stage victory today / Betfair.com
Dumoulin could be a real contender for another stage victory today / Betfair.com

The winner of the stage could well be one of the top ten rider’s currently in the Tour; or it could be someone like Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) or Tony Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) who are renowned time-triallist’s, but if Froome is feeling good and feeling hard done by it could well be a stage for Sky’s leader to lay down a marker.

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