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Chris Froome has given hope of what seemed an unlikely return to cycling after suffering a life-threatening injury in a horror crash in August.
Four-time Tour de France winner Froome crashed in training on the Cote d’Azur and was airlifted to hospital in Toulon, around 100 miles from his home in Monaco, where he underwent successful surgery.
He suffered a collapsed lung, five broken ribs and a fractured spine in the accident, with The Times later reporting that he had additionally sustained a pericardial rupture which could have been fatal.
The injury is a rare complication of blunt force trauma, most commonly occurring after high-speed impact, which causes a tear to the sac surrounding the heart. Pericardial rupture has a mortality rate of between 20 and 60 percent.
The crash brought an end to the 40-year-old’s season and it was already feared could spell the end of his career, even before the revelation of the cardiac injury.
However, Froome has taken to Instagram to provide a major update on his recovery as he showed himself back on the bike.
“It’s been a tough road back after my latest crash but it feels so good to finally be out here spinning the legs and on the road again,” he wrote.
“Every setback teaches you something… this one reminded me to slow down, heal and enjoy the simple things in life.”
The seven-time grand tour champion is currently out of contract after leaving Israel Premier-Tech, now rebranded as NSN Cycling Team, at the end of this season. He joined on a five-year contract from 2021 after leaving Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky, with whom he won all of his grand tours.
“We want to take the chance to thank our departing staff for all of their hard work and, of course, the departing riders: Pascal Ackermann, Chris Froome, Riley Pickrell, Matthew Riccitello, Michael Schwarzmann, and Mike Woods,” a post on the team’s Instagram read, confirming his departure.
“Thanks for the memories over the last years, we look forward to seeing you in the peloton next year or wherever the next chapter takes you!”
Froome’s career was derailed by another serious crash in training during the Criterium du Dauphiné in 2019, when he crashed into a wall at 54km/h, fracturing his right femur, elbow and ribs. He missed the rest of the season as he endured a lengthy rehabilitation process and never reached the same heights as before the crash, with his best result since then a third place on the 2022 Tour de France stage to Alpe d’Huez, won by compatriot Tom Pidcock.
Froome has not raced the Tour since that edition and faced a further setback to his attempts to rebuild his career when he crashed and broke his collarbone at the UAE Tour this February.