"2019 was certainly a massive turning point in my career" - Chris Froome recalls crash that ruined hopes of 5th Tour de France victory

In the 2010s, Chris Froome dominated the Maillot Jaune fight at the Tour de France, taking cycling's most iconic jersey on four separate occasions. In 2019, the Brit looked set to challenge for a 5th victory but sadly, one nasty crash changed the course of his career.

Reconning a stage 4 individual time-trial at the Criterium du Dauphine, Froome slipped out, getting caught up in a high-speed crash that could very easily have ended his life, let alone his professional career. "2019 was certainly a massive turning point in my career but that's sport, that's life – I mean injuries happen, accidents happen so I take that on the chin and get on with doing best I can do," Froome recalls in conversation with Cycling News.

Read also

“I haven’t definitely decided that it will be my last season" - Chris Froome opens door to extending career beyond 2025

This crash ruled Froome out of the 2019 Tour de France, and although he is still in the peloton, riding for Israel - Premier Tech, the Brit's career at the very top level was all but over following that crash. "Yeah, there is still a part of me that I feel, more just because of the form I was in 2019 when I crashed. I really felt that I was probably more ready for the Tour than I had been in the years prior to that," he remembers of a missed opportunity to join the likes of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain on five victories. 

"I was feeling on a completely different level in 2019 compared to 16, 17 and 18, so I was so eager to get into that time trial that day at the Dauphiné, basically that, for me was the day it all started, really, in terms of the Tour, and the Tour build-up was at that Dauphiné," Froome's recollection continues. "So there is a part of me that's like: it's frustrating, but, at the same time, I can accept that. That's life. Shit happens."

Despite the somewhat brutal end to his Maillot Jaune challenging, Froome doesn't hold any lingering sadness about how his career has transpired since 2019. "I think I'm quite lucky. I don't really harp on what's happened, good or bad, and I think that's something that's always helped me in my career," Froome concludes. "Especially as a cyclist, because there are just countless hurdles and upsets that arise along the way, if you spend too much time really just thinking about everything it can trip you up mentally, whereas I'm always very much focused on what's coming and what's in the future."

Read also

"It’s a completely different team now" - Chris Froome sees no similarities between Team Sky and the INEOS Grenadiers