Chris Froome sustained a life-threatening injury to his heart in the training crash in France last week that left him in hospital with a broken back and broken ribs. The four-time Tour de France winner also sustained a pericardial rupture, a tear to the sac that surrounds the heart, in the crash.
“It was obviously a lot more serious than some broken bones,” his wife, Michelle Froome, told the Times. “He’s fine, but it’s going to be a long recovery process. He won’t be riding a bike for a while.”
Froome was airlifted to the Sainte‑Anne military hospital, in the Var, the highest‑level trauma centre in that part of France. His team, Israel-Premier Tech, had stated initially that the 40-year-old had sustained a collapsed lung, five broken ribs and a lumbar vertebrae fracture.
Last spring, Froome was reluctant to speculate on his retirement date. “I haven’t 100% decided that I’ll be retiring at the end of this year,” he said. “Chances are, yes, I’ll be calling it a day, but I’m just keeping the door open.”
However, the gravity of the injuries he suffered in the crash has now increased speculation that he may soon announce his retirement from racing.
Meanwhile, the Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij, teammate of Jonas Vingegaard at Visma-Lease a Bike, overhauled Norway’s Tord Gudmestad to win the opening stage of the 2025 men’s Tour of Britain in Southwold.
Olav Kooij (left) edges out Tord Gudmestad on the line in Southwold. Photograph: Stephen Pond/Getty Images
Kooij, who took four stage wins in the 2023 edition of the race, picked up where he left off on the Suffolk coast, but only after overhauling a violent acceleration from the Decathlon‑AG2R La Mondiale rider.
“It was a lot of headwind after the last corner and a little rise as well,” Kooij said. “It was a bit of a waiting game, to make the last push in the final few metres. Gudmestad was really strong, but he was pushing into the wind and I had some slipstream from him. I had enough in the legs to get past him.”
Kooij has already set his sights on adding to his British win tally. “I don’t think I’ll beat getting four wins like I did a few years ago,” he said.
Geraint Thomas, riding his final professional race, almost missed the start to his own farewell party after his flight to Stansted airport, late on Monday evening, was delayed.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to get here yesterday, with the flights and stuff,” he said before the stage. “Flights were being cancelled all over the place.”
In the end, Thomas arrived at his race hotel in the early hours of the morning and got only a few hours sleep.
“The main thing is enjoying it, really making the most of it. I’m not really in the shape to win myself, but we’ve got some good guys here to perform,” he said of his Ineos Grenadiers team. The 39-year-old finished 25sec behind the leaders on Tuesday.