Cycling - The 104th Tour de France cycling race - The 14-km (8.7 miles) individual time-trial Stage 1 - Duesseldorf, Germany - July 1, 2017 - Team Sky rider Chris Froome of Britain rides during the stage. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

LIEGE, Belgium (Reuters) - Defending Chris Froome crashed during the second stage of the Tour de France, a 203.5-km ride from Duesseldorf to Liege on Sunday.

Team Sky rider Froome hit the deck with about 30km left but got back on his bike with the right side of his shorts torn, helped by team mates Michal Kwiatkowski, Mikel Nieve and Christian Knees.

Another main contender, France’s Romain Bardet, was also involved in the pile-up.

After a brief chase with other riders caught up in the crash, which happened when a rider hit the ground at the front of the peloton, Bardet and Froome made it back to the main pack.