Australian Richie Porte was forced to abandon the Tour de France just seven kilometres in to Sunday’s stage nine after falling in a crash.

Porte, seen as one of the men most likely to challenge Chris Froome for overall victory, was caught in an incident involving several riders and stayed down on the ground holding his collarbone.

The general classification contenders knew Sunday’s 156.5km stage from Arras to Roubaix was one full of dangers given the 22km of cobbles involved, but Porte’s crash happened more than 35km before the first sector.