Aussie Richie Porte out of Tour de France

PARIS: Australian cyclist Richie Porte pulled out of the Tour de France on Sunday after falling heavily on a shoulder early in stage nine from Arras to Roubaix.

The BMC captain was among the favourites to win the 2018 Tour but he had already lost time in a fall on stage one. The 33-year-old fell just 10km into the race and although he scrambled to the side of the road he was unable to remount his bike and instead got into an ambulance, although a diagnosis is as yet unavailable. Porte, winner of last month’s Tour de Suisse, was almost one minute behind his teammate Greg Van Avermaet in the overall standings.