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 The twice Tour de France winner and Team Sky leader went down at the
start of the brutally mountainous 11th stage in the Pyrenees and
eventually limped across the line more than seven minutes behind new
leader Fabio Aru of Astana.
"Scans this morning confirm fractured navicular," Froome wrote on
his Twitter feed. "End of the Vuelta for me."
Froome appeared close to pulling out when he was dropped from the
group of main contenders with three of the six climbs remaining in
the punishing Queen stage, billed as one of the toughest ever set in
a grand tour.
But the 30-year-old, who said he was knocked sideways into a barrier
and wall in the crash, doggedly continued with the help of his team
mates and managed to finish.
However, after losing so much time, and with 10 stages remaining,
Froome's hopes of emulating Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil (1963) and
Bernard Hinault (1978) as the only men to win the Tour and Vuelta in
the same year were clearly over.
"Really appreciate all the messages of support, I did my best to
hang in there today as best I could with the hope of continuing,"
Froome added, while praising team mate Geraint Thomas, who helped
nurse him through to the finish.
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"Thanks to the whole team for the support, especially
@GeraintThomas86 for sticking it out with me today."
The 21-stage race finishes in Madrid on Sept. 13.
(Writing by Iain Rogers; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
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