Chris Froome’s wife has revealed more details about last week’s horror crash which saw the four-time Tour de France winner airlifted to hospital, explaining how he hit a road sign at 30mph and suffered a life-threatening heart injury.
Speaking to The Times, Michelle Froome said he sustained a pericardial rupture, a tear to the sac surrounding the heart, during the high-speed collision in France which happened when he clipped a kerb and hit a road sign head-on at 30mph.
The 40-year-old also suffered a broken back and five broken ribs in the crash, his wife explaining how doctors discovered the pericardial rupture during surgery. He is being treated at Sainte Anne Toulon military hospital, a specialist facility for thoracic surgery.
“It was obviously a lot more serious than some broken bones,” Michelle Froome told the newspaper. “He’s fine but it’s going to be a long recovery process. 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 account brings more details to what’s known about the training crash last Wednesday afternoon, the incident happening as Froome rode in Saint-Raphaël, a resort town on the Côte d’Azur.
He was airlifted to hospital, his Israel-Premier Tech team confirming a pneumothorax, five broken ribs, and a lumbar vertebrae fracture.
While some reports initially suggested Froome was involved in a collision, a social media post from the rider and his team confirmed no other cyclists or road users were involved, Froome’s wife’s account today adding detail to what happened.
Despite the severity of his injuries, Froome remained conscious following the crash and was able to speak to those around him.
On Friday morning, a statement followed on Froome’s own social media channels, the update confirming he had been successfully operated on and is “in good spirits”.
“We can confirm that Chris has successfully undergone surgery following his recent injuries,” the statement began. “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.”
The crash will rule Froome out for the rest of the season, after which his contract with Israel-Premier Tech is due to run out. The 40-year-old is yet to confirm whether this year will be his last in the professional peloton.
He of course also suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné while on a recon ride for the time trial. Froome had taken his hands off the bars to wipe his nose when a gust of wind took his wheels out from under him and blew him into the wall; breaking his neck, femur, elbow, hip and ribs.
11 thoughts on ““A lot more serious than some broken bones”: Chris Froome hit road sign at 30mph and suffered life-threatening heart injury, his wife reveals”
Froome has not been lucky
Froome has not been lucky with crashes in training. From the one where he walloped an old man on his TT bike so hard he thought he’d killed him, to fracturing his hand (or wrist?) in the 2014 Tour (the cobbled stage was it?) and withdrawing after crashing again, to the ’19 Dauphine recon crash, and now this.
Looking at wiki, so many other crashes – withdrew from the ’15 Vuelta after breaking his foot in a crash. Crashed next year in the vuelta too, though stayed in to win it. Crashed in the ’18 Giro and injured himself enough to make life difficult for himself. Put himself out of contention with crashes in the Tour that year too.
Crash Froome for a reason.
Paul J wrote:
He didn’t win the 2016 Vuelta, he was second to Quintana. He won the next year.
On the overall point, although he does appear a bit accident-prone I think the “Crash Froome” nickname is a bit unfair in its insinuation that he’s a poor bike handler; he’s shown time and again in the biggest races that he’s a brilliant descender and you don’t win seven GTs if you can’t handle a bike. Pro riders crash all the time, in racing and training; as they say, you don’t find where the limit is until you go over it. Even the Dauphine crash, which was 100% the fault of his carelessness/bravado, was unlucky with his wheel being caught by a freak gust of wind when his hands were off the bars. Where he does seem to have a problem is that he does seem to have been more susceptible to serious injury in crashes than others; I wonder if (not in the Dauphine one or this latest one, obviously, but with his many other fractures) this has anything to do with his particularly spindly frame?
I always remember reading in
I always remember reading in one of Geraint autobiographys Froome’s comment after a Sky training session : “Isn’t it funny how you nearly crash every time you go out cycling.”
Maybe he is a lot less risk averse than most cyclists. Although a good bike handler, he has maybe bitten off a bit too much at times.
The description of cycle
The description of cycle racing and safety, recent, from a retired pro, that it was like being driven around in shorts and a t-shirt, for thousands of Kms, and twice a year someone kicks you out of the moving vehicle.
Shocking – I truly wish him
Shocking – I truly wish him well !
The photo of him in the
The photo of him in the yellow jersey not looking where he’s going was an inspired choice
Hope he makes a full recovery
Hope he makes a full recovery.
I don’t think the UCI legal road bikes have a long enough wheelbase for tall riders. It’s makes riding feel “balanced on top of the bike”, rather than “sat in between the wheels” and causes squirrelly handling at speed and also for seated climbing. The I expect the UCI will keep an eye on sock length and making sure small riders use overly wide handlebars rather than fix this.
I don’t think the UCI
I don’t think the UCI specifies a maximum legal wheelbase. That sort of thing is detemined by the desired handling characteristics of the frame designer
Nick T wrote:
They don’t specifically state a maximum wheelbase (front to rear spindle) but maximum bike length is 185cm which effectively limits the wheelbase.
That’s interesting, wasn’t
That’s interesting, wasn’t aware of the length limit. My bikes are around 165cm long, comfortably within that limit. Checking the size chart of one of them, which had 14 sizes at the time, the largest size the manufacturer offered only added maximum of 10cm so they had plenty of room to play with
Wow, that sounds pretty nasty
Wow, that sounds pretty nasty. I hope he recovers fully.