Chris Froome almost saw his Critérium du Dauphiné aspirations come crashing down in the final three kilometres of stage one on Monday, narrowly avoiding crashing twice in quick succession.
The Team Sky leader was at the front of the peloton trying to stay out of trouble, but that's exactly what he found when he nudged shoulders with an Orica-GreenEdge rider.
The Orica rider had, in turn, nudged shoulders with a Katusha rider and then edged into Froome's path. Froome leant into the collision and then almost lost control as he ricocheted off to the right.
As he moved across the road he corrected his line only to see the Orica and Katusha riders moving across the road in front of him, forcing Froome to take yet more evasive action.
Decked out in the red and white polka dot jersey, Froome stayed upright until the finish line and remains third overall in the general classification. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) won the stage to Saint Vulbas.
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