Ride London 2016: Chris Froome and fellow pro cyclists left sitting around for 20 minutes after amateur crash on Surrey roads blocks the way

TOUR DE FRANCE winner Chris Froome was left going nowhere when there was a crash ahead of the Ride London pro race.

The 125-mile Ride London-Surrey Classic saw 150 world class cyclists sat on their backsides – while marshals frantically tried to unclog the roads up ahead.

Only 28 miles had gone on the race when officials stopped the breakaway group, who had nearly a 4-minute advantage over Froome and the chasing bunch.

The Team Sky-led followers were then left to catch up with the breakaway as the race as ‘neutralised’ and everyone had to stop dead in the road.

Froome, 31 and Rio Olympics bound pal Geraint Thomas then paused on his bike and even cracked a smile stopped for photos with fans who were on the roadside.

The Brits have been using the spin as a final outing before the Rio Games road race on Saturday – which could be Team GB’s first gold medal of the Olympic Games.

The main problem for race organisers was that 30,000 amateurs had to pass through the route, with two separate accidents requiring ambulances forcing an unavoidable backlog.

A RideLondon spokesman said: “The RideLondon-Surrey Classic was paused. This was done on the advice of police on the grounds of public safety due to congestion in Dorking High Street of riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100.

“This was caused by the combination of the earlier delay from the earlier stop when a rider required an air ambulance and other riders who were diverted.”