Richie Porte slams 2017 Tour de France route as a 'joke of a course'

After crashing out of the Tour de France on stage nine's Mont du Chat descent, Richie Porte has questioned whether the race organisers would like to see their own families take on the same descent.

In an interview with SBS, the BMC rider spoke about his disappointment with the stage's safety. "Basically, every rider in that peloton was questioning the safety of that descent," he said.

"The organisers do need to look at that. Would they be happy to sit there and watch their son go down that descent?

"That's a pretty valid question, not just because I'm sat on my couch and unable to move off it for three weeks," he explained.

With a fractured pelvis and collarbone, Porte took a serious beating after locking up his back wheel and riding into the grass verge before crashing.

Watch: Highlights from 2017 Tour de France stage nine

Going into this year's race Porte was labelled as one of the key contenders to take the yellow jersey but unfortunately that will have to be postponed until next year.

"I'm super-motivated for the Tour de France, 2018 - for me that's the biggest thing," he told reporters but not before showing his discontent for this year's route.

"It was a bit of a joke of a course - it's not really a traditional Tour de France. I don't really know that they got it right," he said.

>>> Tour de France 2017: Latest news, reports and race info

The Australian remained optimistic though and doesn't fear that this horrendous crash will play a part in his future preparations, explaining "I don't see it as something that's going to plague me for the rest of my career".

As his recovery continues, Porte's main focus is to alleviate the boredom that has set in to the his immediate life. "If anyone has any box-set suggestions ..." he said.

The Tour de France continues today with stage 13 from Saint Girons to Foix.