“Much more serious than just broken bones”
Cycle professional Froome suffered life -threatening heart injury
Updated on 03.09.2025 – 3:04 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
For years, Chris Froome was one of the best cyclists in the world. Now his great career could be over – because of a bad accident.
A serious training accident in Toulon (France) has consequences for the former world-class cyclist Chris Froome than initially assumed. The four-time Tour de France winner fights with a potentially life-threatening heart injury after a serious fall.
As his wife Michelle explained in the British “Times”, the 40-year-old suffered a tear of the pericardium in the incident. “It was obviously much more serious than just a few broken bones,” she told the newspaper.
According to reports, Froome was collided with a traffic sign in training. Other vehicles or vehicles were not involved. At first there was talk of a pneumothorax – an air collection between the lungs and breast wall. In addition, there were fractures on five ribs and a fracture in the area of the lumbar spine.
The fact that Froome survived the operation at all is also thanks to the nearby military hospital Sainte Anne Toulon, which specializes in such injuries. There the cardiac tear was determined during an intervention. According to his wife, the condition of the British is stable, but the recovery will take a lot of time. “He won’t be able to ride a bike for a while,” she said.
Froome is currently driving for the Israel Prime Minister Tech. His contract expires at the end of the season. The serious injury could have already sealed his last race. From 2013 to 2017, Froome dominated the cycling scene – and won the Tour de France four times during this period.