Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome will undergo surgery on Thursday following a serious training crash.The 40-year-old Briton was airlifted to hospital in Toulon, France, on Wednesday afternoon following the incident, which did not involve any other cyclists or vehicles.
A statement released by his team Israel-Premier Tech read: “Chris Froome was airlifted to hospital in Toulon yesterday afternoon following a serious training crash [no other cyclists or vehicles were involved].
“Fortunately, Chris is stable and did not sustain any head injuries, however, scans have confirmed a pneumothorax, five broken ribs, and a lumbar vertebrae fracture, for which he will undergo surgery this afternoon.
“We will update on Chris’ condition following surgery.”
Froome, currently in his fifth year with Israel-Premier Tech, is out of contract at the end of the year.
His most recent race was at the Tour de Pologne earlier this month, where he finished 68th overall.
Froome fought back from a serious injury sustained during a high-speed crash at the Criterium de Dauphine in 2019, which left him with a fractured neck, femur, hip, elbow and ribs.
Remarkably, he returned to competition eight months later – but the 40-year-old has not been able to recapture the dominance that made him one of the sport’s most recognisable names.
Froome won the Tour four times between 2013 and 2017 during Team Sky’s reign at the top of world cycling.
A fifth Tour de France title would have put him level with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.