Defending champion Chris Froome has withdrawn from this year's Tour de France.

After suffering a wrist injury during a crash yesterday, the Team Sky leader suffered two falls in the wet and slippy conditions today and was eventually forced to retire.

The 29-year-old was clearly in discomfort after his fall and was gingerly holding his wrist before eventually deciding to quit the race and climb into one of the team cars.

The forced retirement of Froome is now likely to raise further questions over the decision to leave 2012 champion Bradley Wiggins out of the Team Sky line up for this year's race.