Tour de France 2018: Chris Froome shouts ‘f*** you’ at French police officer after altercation

The 33-year-old Team Sky rider was descending from summit finish of the Col du Portet after finishing stage 17

Chris Froome’s Tour de France has been going from bad to worse.

On Wednesday, Froome first watched his hopes of winning a fifth Tour all but disappear as Geraint Thomas extended his lead in the general classification.

And then to make matters worse, he crashed while riding down his team bus after being mistaken for a fan by police.

The gendarme knocked the 33-year-old Team Sky off his bike and grabbed him by the arm, shortly after Froome had finished the stage.

Froome then became involved in an angry altercation with the police officer, approaching him and shouting: “F*** you”.

The defending champion, whose hopes of winning a fifth title faded when he cracked in the finale of the last 16-km climb up to the Col du Portet, was asked by a police officer to stop, which caused him to crash, Team Sky later explained.

Froome's wife Michelle told Reuters that she thought he had been mistaken for a fan because he was wearing a black raincoat. She added that he was not injured in the crash.

A lot of fans climb up the mountains on their bikes before the riders to find a spot where they can watch the peloton ride by.