Bora-Hansgrohe sport director Rolf Aldag praised Jai Hindley, who was injured in a crash early in stage 14 of the Tour de France that ended his podium bid.

Hindley, an Australian who was injured in a pile-up that caused many abandonments, finished the stage in sixth place behind stage winner Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers).

Hindley started the day in third place overall, 1:57 behind Rodriguez, but is now trailing Rodriguez by one second before a tough day in the mountains on Sunday.

"I think today we were able to make a big gap to our direct rivals as well. I think he had enough to keep up with Rodriguez, but a fall is a fall. But a fall is a fall. You can't turn back the clock," Aldag said after the race.

"He was one of the victims of the crash, but considering that, I think he fought through the whole day.

"He had a big impact. It's never a good thing when you crash at high speed on a slightly downhill road. I think he fought through really, really bravely.

After the stage, Hindley showered and dressed, and told the media that he could not recall what caused the crash, in which he hit the pavement at 50 km/h.

"I have no idea. I was lying down before I knew it. "My back was pretty sore. ...... I think it was an internal muscle or something. It's pretty sore right now. I'm going to figure it out in the next couple of days."

Despite the fall, Hindley did not wimp out on the road and stayed with the yellow jersey group, consisting of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma), Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), their respective second-in-command, and several riders, even after his teammates fell. I followed them all the way.

Emmanuel Buchmann lost contact with the yellow jersey group on the Ramaz pass, 55.8 km from the finish, and Hindley passed the decisive Juu Plain pass alone, with Jumbo-Visma controlling the pace with almost the full group.

"For sure, I was aiming higher. Emu [Buchmann] tried to come back, but he got stuck with the Pidcock [Tom Pidcock] group. 'A lot of the players were isolated. Rodriguez was lonely. In that sense, there was nobody [there] anymore, except for [Pogachar and Vingegaard's] friends."

"And although it wasn't perfect, it would have been nice if Emu had been there to lead Jai up the climb.

Hindley lost contact with the leading group 17.3km from the finish, and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) took over as pacemaker. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) took over as pacemaker. [On the final climb, Rodriguez caught and passed Pogachar and Vingegaard on the descent to the finish, taking advantage of the gap they saw in each other's faces.

"I can't really say. Every time I got out of the saddle it hurt a lot. It wasn't my best, but it is what it is. I think we were all passengers today."

The first-time Tour climber did not talk about the overall class, except to say that he expected Jumbo Visma to take control as is and try to set up defending champion Vingegaard, who had increased his lead over Pogachar from 9 to 10 seconds.

The crash did not help, but Aldag maintained an optimistic outlook.

"I think right now, the physio, the doctor, everybody has to do 120 percent of the work," he said. He's still in the game." He's still in the game. All is not lost and now we have to do everything we can for him. "

Beulah Hansgrohe had a medical update on Hindley before stage 15, following a pre-stage examination on Sunday. The team said she is "sore, but ready to race."

"Jai had another examination this morning. Fortunately, not much skin was removed, but he did hit his right side. After determining that there were no major effects from the crash, he was treated by a physical therapist. As expected, he felt a little pain this morning, but after the treatment he is on the mend and ready to race."