Rescue workers on the roof of the Centre Hospitalier of Roanne hold up a blanket to screen Team Ineos rider Great Britain’s Christopher Froome from view as he boards a helicopter to be transferred to another hospital, after a crash ahead of the 2019 Tour de France. Photo: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
The horror crash that ruled Chris Froome out of the 2019 Tour de France
Chris Froome will not be at the 2019 Tour de France. He was ruled out of the race after a horrific crash in the month leading up to the race.
Rescue workers on the roof of the Centre Hospitalier of Roanne hold up a blanket to screen Team Ineos rider Great Britain’s Christopher Froome from view as he boards a helicopter to be transferred to another hospital, after a crash ahead of the 2019 Tour de France. Photo: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
One of the big talking points of the 2019 Tour de France is the absence of Chris Froome. The four-time winner was ruled out of the race after a horrific crash in June.
The 34-year old was airlifted to a hospital in Saint-Etienne for emergency surgery after slamming into a wall at high speed during a practice run ahead of the fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine race in central France.
The force of the impact fractured his pelvis, right femur, hip, right elbow and left him with broken ribs.
Froome was travelling at around 50 kilometres per hour when a gust of wind hurtled him towards a wall after he momentarily took his hand off the handlebars to blow his nose.
“I know how lucky I am to be here today and how much I owe to all the paramedics and medical staff on the race,” said Froome after the crash.
Froome “will be looked after closely for the next few months” by Remi Philippot, the surgeon who led the medical team which operated on the stricken Team Ineos star.
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The 34-year-old Briton tweeted: “This is just the first step to what will be a long recovery.
“Unfortunately I’m not yet able to go home, but at least I’ll have an opportunity to get a visit from my kids.”
He paid tribute to the care he had received during his stay in hospital.
“As my time at @ChuSaintEtienne has come to an end, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the doctors & nurses for the exceptional care provided to me.
“It’s been a rough week but I appreciate you having made it as comfortable as possible for me.”
Chris Froome crash footage
While footage of the crash itself hasn’t surfaced yet, a clip of him being told that he shouldn’t take risks, just moments before the horrific crash, did do the rounds.
Dramatic footage of him being airlifted to hospital was also made public.
The 2019 Tour de France will begin in Brussels on Saturday.
Additional reporting by AFP.
