Former Tour de France winner Chris Froome suffered life-threatening heart injury in crash, wife says
Four-time Tour de France champion cyclist Chris Froome suffered a life-threatening heart injury during a serious crash in training last week, his wife Michelle has said.
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The accident last Wednesday in southern France left Froome needing surgery after he suffered a fractured vertebrae, collapsed lung and five broken ribs.
Froome collided with a road sign at over 30mph, and while treating his injuries surgeons uncovered a rupture of his pericardium due to blunt chest trauma.
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"It was obviously a lot more serious than some broken bones. He's fine, but it's going to be a long recovery process," Michelle told The Times.
"He won't be riding a bike for a while. Chris is happy for you to share this because people need to understand what is going on."
The 40-year-old cycling legend is expected to make a full recovery, but at the very least his current season is over.
Froome is in the final months of the five-year contract he signed when he left Ineos Grenadiers to join Israel Premier-Tech ahead of the 2021 campaign.
Froome won the Tour de France in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, also winning the Giro d'Italia in 2018 and the Vuelta a Espana in both 2011 and 2017 - all with Team Sky.