CHAMBERY, France — Pre-race favorite Richie Porte’s Tour de France came to a brutal end when the Australian suffered a heavy crash on a descent during the ninth stage on Sunday.

The BMC Racing rider hit the rocks on his right-hand side and was attended to by medics, who carried him into an ambulance on a stretcher.

Earlier, Geraint Thomas of Team Sky also crashed out of the race.

“I was looking at him, he was in pain,” his sports director Fabio Baldato said.

“We need to wait for the doctor’s diagnosis. He was always conscious. He was asking for his helmet and his glasses.”

Baldato added that Porte had ridden the descent four times before the Tour, including once in racing conditions during last month’s Criterium du Dauphine.