Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome suffered a serious heart injury in his recent crash which could have been fatal, it has been revealed.
The 40-year-old crashed in training last Wednesday on the Cote d’Azur and was airlifted to hospital in Toulon, around 100 miles from his home in Monaco, where he underwent successful surgery.
He suffered a collapsed lung, five broken ribs and a fractured spine in the accident, with The Times later reporting that he had additionally sustained a pericardial rupture.
The injury is a rare complication of blunt force trauma, most commonly occurring after high-speed impact, which causes a tear to the sac surrounding the heart. Pericardial rupture has a mortality rate of between 20 and 60%.
Froome’s wife Michelle, with whom he has two children, told The Times: “It was obviously a lot more serious than some broken bones. He’s fine but it’s going to be a long recovery process. He won’t be riding a bike for a while.”
She added that “people need to understand what is going on” with her husband’s condition.
The crash brought an end to Froome’s season and it was already feared could spell the end of his career, even before the revelation of the cardiac injury.
The seven-time grand tour champion is out of contract with his current team, Israel Premier-Tech, at the end of this season. He joined on a five-year contract from 2021 after leaving Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky, with whom he won all of his grand tours.
Froome’s career was derailed by another serious crash in training during the Criterium du Dauphiné in 2019, when he crashed into a wall at 54km/h, fracturing his right femur, elbow and ribs. He missed the rest of the season as he endured a lengthy rehabilitation process and never reached the same heights as before the crash, with his best result since then a third place on the 2022 Tour de France stage to Alpe d’Huez, won by compatriot Tom Pidcock.
Froome has not raced the Tour since that edition and faced a further setback to his attempts to rebuild his career when he crashed and broke his collarbone at the UAE Tour this February.
A statement from Israel Premier-Tech last week said: “We can confirm that Chris has successfully undergone surgery following his recent injuries. The procedures went as planned, and Chris is currently recovering in hospital under the care of his medical team.
“He is in good spirits and grateful for the excellent medical support he has received. Chris and his family would like to thank fans, friends, and the cycling community for their concern and kind messages during this time.”
