Worst summer of British sport EVER? Froome crashes out Tour de France as fans left reeling #TheElitePartyinJuly #IRepEntertain9jarBlog via @myentertain9jar

BRITAIN's miserable summer of sport was struck by a new blow today, as defending champion Chris Froome crashed out the Tour de France.

 

Has this been Britain's worst summer of sport ever?[PA/REUTERS/EPA/EXPRESS]

The 29-year-old went down twice on treacherous rain-soaked roads in northern France, having also fallen yesterday to rip large pieces of skin off his battered body.

The Kenyan-born star was shown climbing into a Team Sky support car as he abandoned cycling's most prestigious race.

Froome's surrender of his crown means Britain has just two representatives left in the Tour, Team Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas - who could now assume Froome's position as Team Sky leader - and Orica-GreenEDGE rookie Simon Yates.

Fellow Britons David Millar and Sir Bradley Wiggins were dropped by their respective teams even before the race began, while sprinting legend Mark Cavendish suffered a dislocated shoulder during a dramatic finale to stage one.

Defending champion Chris Froome abandoned the Tour de France after a series of crashes [REUTERS]

Sprinting star Mark Cavendish required a shoulder operation following his dramatic crash [TWITTER/REUTERS]

An estimated five million cycling fans packed UK roads over the first three days of the Tour [EPA]

The summer of 2014 is officially the worst summer of sport for Great Britain now Chris Froome's crashed out of the Tour de France.

Twitter user Matt Dathan

The dwindling number of British racers contrasts markedly to the race's 'Grand Depart', which was believed by many to be the best ever as an estimated five million fans packed onto UK roads to witness the Tour's return to these shores.

And there is a growing sense that the glory of the Olympic summer of 2012 - where Great Britain swept all sporting opponents aside - has now been replaced by an annus horribilis.

This summer has already seen England's footballers put on their worst-ever World Cup performance and Andy Murray meekly surrender in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

England's cricketers have also been unable to bounce back from their Ashes humbling to Australia over the winter, losing in all forms of the game to Sri Lanka.

And, despite high hopes prior to their departure, England's rugby union stars were brushed aside by New Zealand's all-conquering All Blacks.

Both Andy Murray and England's footballers also failed to deliver [REUTERS/EXPRESS]

Cricket captain Alastair Cook and the England's rugby union stars have also had a summer to forget [PA/REUTERS]

Following news of Froome's abandonment, Twitter users were quick to bemoan 2014's hardship for UK sporting stars.

Matt Dathan wrote: "The summer of 2014 is officially the worst summer of sport for Great Britain now Chris Froome's crashed out of the Tour de France."

Another user called laurakc added: "froome out of the tdf = worst summer of british sport for a long time?"

Many others voiced their concerns that Germany could complete fans' misery by winning Sunday's World Cup final in Brazil.