TOULON, France (AP) — Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome will undergo surgery on Thursday after “a serious training crash” that saw the British cyclist airlifted to a hospital in France.
Froome’s team Israel-Premier Tech said he was “stable and did not sustain any head injuries” but added that scans confirmed a pneumothorax, five broken ribs, and a lumbar vertebrae fracture.
Froome was taken to hospital in Toulon by helicopter on Wednesday after the accident, which happened while he was training near Saint-Raphaël. His team said “no other cyclists or vehicles were involved.”
His last victory was the Giro d’Italia in 2018. He also won the Spanish Vuelta twice, in 2011 and 2017, bookending his four triumphs in the Tour — the first in 2013 followed by a hat trick of titles from 2015-17.
The 40-year-old Froome never returned to his previous best level following a training crash at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, an event he used to fine-tune his bid for a record-equaling fifth Tour title. In the accident he broke his right femur, elbow and ribs.
This latest incident could spell the end of Froome’s career as his contract with Israel-Premier Tech — which he joined in 2021 — is coming to an end.
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