Chambery — Chris Froome escaped unscathed after an action-packed ninth stage of the Tour de France as one of his rivals and his Team Sky lieutenant crashed out of the race on Sunday. The defending champion, who was attacked by Fabio Aru just as he suffered a mechanical fault on the last climb, ended up third at the end of a 181.5km trek in the Jura mountains won by Colombian Rigoberto Uran ahead of France’s Warren Barguil. Froome had his rivals to thank, however, as none of them took turns in front while he was changing his bike in the ascent to the Mont du Chat. "I had a mechanical problem with my gears, I had to change bikes," said three-time champion Froome. "I want to thank the other riders, who did not attack," he added, saying he did not see Aru attacking past him as he raised his arms to ask for assistance. He was already without teammate Geraint Thomas, who abandoned after crashing in the slippery descent of the Col de la Biche, one of three out-of-category ascents of the da...
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