Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome sustained a life-threatening injury to his heart in a training crash in southern France last week, his wife Michelle said.
The 40-year-old Briton was airlifted to hospital in Toulon after the crash on Wednesday last week, which also left him with broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a back fracture.
His wife told the Times that doctors discovered Froome had a pericardial rupture — a tear in the protective sac surrounding the heart, often caused by blunt chest trauma.
Photo: AP
“It was obviously a lot more serious than some broken bones,” she said. “He’s fine, but it’s going to be a long recovery process. He won’t be riding a bike for a while.”
Froome, who has won seven Grand Tours — including two Vuelta a Espana titles and one Giro d’Italia victory — has struggled to regain his best form following a high-speed crash during training for the Criterium du Dauphine in 2019.
He broke his collarbone in a crash during the UAE Tour earlier this year and was not selected for the Tour de France.
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