Froome out of Tour de France

Chris Froome's attempt to win a second successive Tour de France ended in bitter disappointment after less than a week of the race on Wednesday when he crashed out on stage five.

On a miserable day in northern France, the Briton appeared in great pain after falling for the second time, some 70 kilometres from the finish.

The Team Sky rider stood holding the wrist he injured in another spill on Tuesday, and was limping heavily as he eventually climbed into a team vehicle after chatting to team doctor Alan Farrell and sports director Nicolas Portal.

The team's website confirmed shortly afterwards that Froome had withdrawn from the race. Earlier in the stage, a 152.5-km ride from Ypres, Belgium, Froome suffered his second crash in two days.