Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome faces surgery after a severe training crash in France left him with a broken back, five fractured ribs, and a collapsed lung. The 40-year-old British cyclist was airlifted to a hospital in Toulon, where he is slated for surgery Thursday, his team confirmed. Froome avoided head injuries and remains in stable condition following the incident, which did not involve any other riders or vehicles, the Guardian reports.
This marks the second major training crash of Froome's career. Back in 2019, he suffered multiple fractures—including to his femur and hip—after a high-speed accident during a reconnaissance ride. He said he was "lucky to be alive." Froome's latest mishap puts him on the sidelines for the rest of the season and raises questions about his future, with his contract at Israel-Premier Tech set to expire this year. Froome, who broke his collarbone in a mid-race crash at UAE Tour in February, had previously hinted that 2025 could be his last year of competitive racing, ESPN reports.
Froome is one of history's most decorated cyclists, the BBC reports, with Tour de France wins in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017, along with titles at the Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia. After the 2019 crash, however, he never returned to the same level, ESPN notes. In his most recent event, the Tour de Poland earlier this month, he finished 68th overall.
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