Live blog: Team Ineos doctor gives Chris Froome medical update; Bike cop nabs fully tooled-up bike thief; Halfords predict 'e-bike revolution' in UK thanks to new C2W scheme guidance; Moving a whole office by cargo bike +more

Team Ineos doctor Richard Usher says Chris Froome’s surgery last night following his high-speed crash while previewing the route of yesterday’s time trial stage at the Criterium du Dauphiné was a success.  

“First things first, the surgery was a success. The operation, which lasted for six hours, went very well,” he said.

“Chris woke up this morning and was reviewed by the intensive care consultants and the orthopaedic specialist who operated on him and they’re both very happy with his progress to date.

“Chris will remain in hospital for the next few days for observation, but he is already actively engaging in discussing his rehabilitation options, which is very encouraging.

“As he begins his road to recovery, the team will now only be providing further updates at a stage where it is necessary to do so."

Team Ineos added that Froome appreciated the messages of support sent to him, and will provide his own response in the coming days.

Wishing you a full & speedy recovery Chris x

— Brad Wiggins (@SirWiggo) June 13, 2019

Rémi Philippot, the head doctor who operated on Froome, told Le Progres: "The operation lasted a long time, there were several traumas and he suffered multiple fractures.

"The cyclist should stay in hospital for several days. There are potential further operations to be done.”

New | Update on @chrisfroome from his surgeon "He has now woken up, is conscious and knows exactly what happened. He knows there are difficult times ahead. That means a lot of recuperation but he's an athlete and athletes are used to suffering." #TeamIneos @TeamINEOS #Froome

— Steve Scott (@stevescott_itv) June 13, 2019

In better news, it's also been reported on afp.com that Philippot says Froome could be back on the bike in six months: "The impact was at around 50 km/h, with very little body protection, causing a high-energy impact.

"Chris Froome has the morale of a winner and is very rapidly bouncing back. He started asking immediately when he could get back on his bike. He should be back racing in about six months."

If you haven't read our article on it yet, Cycle to Work schemes in the UK have just got a whole lot more flexible with the Department for Transport's new guidance, making it clear that bikes worth over £1,000 will now be far easier to get on C2W.

One particular genre of bike that is almost impossible to find at the sub-£1,000 mark is electric bikes, and retail giant Halfords is predicting an 'e-bike revolution' thanks to the relaxation of the cap - and they say their own e-bike sales are up 47% and account for 11% of their total bike sales, most likely thanks to the C2W expansion. They also recently commissioned research that predicted e-bike sales in the UK will jump from 50,000 today to a whopping 1.5 million by 2050 (read more about that over on eBikeTips)... someone really wants to flog you an e-bike, don't they?  

First outing on @TrekBikes speed concept, happy with how my day went but feeling for Froomey after his nasty crash. Heal well matey! @TrekSegafredo @GettySport pic.twitter.com/LcfgNvLxaA

— Richie Porte (@richie_porte) June 12, 2019

Unfortunately Froome won't be going for a fifth Tour de France this year, after a horror crash at speed when he took his hands off the bars to blow his nose caused multiple fractures (most notably the right femur and right elbow).  

Chris is in surgery at the moment to repair the multiple fractures, please keep him in your thoughts. I hope to be able to share a message from him tomorrow morning - MF

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 12, 2019

Froome underwent surgery last night, and his wife Michelle is currently updating us from his Twitter account and we hope to get some better news this morning. The BBC interviewed Dave Brailsford about the crash on their Bespoke Weekly podcast here, he said: "It's a big crash this one, it's not great. 

"It's a tough one to be honest, he's not in great shape."

Brailsford revealed Froome was riding with Wout Poels, and as he hung back to blow his nose, a gust of wind took his front wheel and he went straight into the wall of a house - he also lost consciousness. Brailsford said Garmin data shown Froome went from 54km/h to a "dead stop". Brailsford also praised the emergency services immediately after the crash, and luckily there was an ambulance very close to where the incident happened. 

Here's a few more reactions from around social media...

Everyone across INEOS is wishing @chrisfroome (@TeamINEOS) a speedy recovery following his crash during a recon of yesterday’s TT stage @dauphine. https://t.co/UjfZN6KIrn

— INEOS (@INEOS) June 13, 2019

Absolutely gutted for @chrisfroome. But if there is one thing we know about Froomey, it’s that he will be back from this. July won’t be the same without him that’s for sure. https://t.co/2KCehiuuTq

— Tao Geoghegan Hart (@taogeoghegan) June 12, 2019

Such crap news!! It’s always horrible hearing about any bad crash, but even worse when it’s a good mate!! Heal up quick!! #he’llbeback https://t.co/E61vKv1cPp

— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) June 12, 2019

We missed this one first time around, but here's the cycling and walking charity Sustrans doing their whole London office move using e-cargo bikes. They did it with help from cargo bike taxi and logistics service Pedal Me, who you can find out more about here.