Chris Froome narrowly avoids Vuelta a España crash (video)

Crashes marred the end of the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España, one of which knocked Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) out of the race with a suspected broken collarbone.

Team Sky leader Chris Froome was almost one of the ones brought down as he rode close behind two riders who hit the deck with very little warning.

The Tour de France winner can be seen on the GIF below skirting away from the imminent danger ahead of him, tweeting afterwards "Phew! That was a close one".

Froome is trying to become the first rider to win both the Tour de France and Vuelta a España in the same year since the Spanish race moved to its Autumn slot in 1995.

He attempted the same thing in 2015 but his race was ended by a crash on stage 11 in Andorra in which the Brit broke his foot.

The Olympic bronze medallist lived to race another day and with plenty of summit finishes to come he'll be more than relieved to have stayed upright this time.