Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome has sustained a life-threatening heart injury following a training crash in southern France last week, his wife Michelle revealed.
Idman.biz, citing Reuters, reports that the 40-year-old British cyclist was airlifted to a hospital in Toulon after the August 27 accident, which also left him with broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a back fracture.
Doctors discovered Froome had suffered a pericardial rupture — a tear in the protective sac surrounding the heart, typically caused by blunt chest trauma. “It was obviously a lot more serious than some broken bones,” his wife said. She added that while Froome is stable, he faces a long recovery period and will not be riding a bike for some time.
Froome, a seven-time Grand Tour winner with two Vuelta a Espana titles and a Giro d’Italia victory, has battled to regain his top form since a high-speed crash during training for the 2019 Criterium du Dauphine. Last year, he expressed a desire to compete in the Tour de France one final time, but further injuries, including a broken collarbone during the UAE Tour earlier this year, have hindered his plans.
The cycling world now watches closely as Froome begins the challenging road to recovery, with uncertainty surrounding his future in competitive racing.
Idman.biz
