Chris Froome scarred but still smiling: Four-time Tour de France winner posts recovery update following near-fatal crash

Chris Froome has shared a raw and revealing glimpse into his recovery process, just weeks after a life-threatening crash during a training ride in southern France left the four-time Tour de France winner with multiple serious injuries.

The British cycling legend, now 40, posted a photo update on his Instagram Stories, offering fans an unfiltered look at the physical toll of his latest setback — and his determination to keep fighting.

The images show Froome shirtless during a rehabilitation session, his torso marked with deep scars and bruising — lasting evidence of the crash that saw him airlifted to a hospital in Toulon in late August. Despite the visible damage, Froome is seen smiling and with his thumb raised positively, tagging a UK-based recovery and performance centre that is assisting with his treatment.

The accident, which occurred during a solo ride near the French Riviera, resulted in Froome suffering five broken ribs, a fractured lumbar vertebra, a collapsed lung, and — most alarmingly — a rupture to the pericardium, the protective sac around the heart. He was flown to Sainte-Anne military hospital for emergency surgery and remained under close observation in the days that followed.

Doctors later described the incident as “potentially fatal,” and it remains unclear how close Froome came to another career-ending, or even life-ending, event. His family issued a statement at the time assuring fans that his condition was stable, and that the veteran climber had not sustained any head injuries — a small mercy in a frightening situation.

This isn’t Froome’s first confrontation with adversity. In 2019, during a recon of a time trial stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné, he sustained a catastrophic crash that left him with a fractured femur, elbow, hip and ribs — injuries that sidelined him for nearly a year and cast doubt on whether he would ever race again.

But the Kenyan-born Brit defied expectations, returning to the peloton with Israel - Premier Tech and continuing to race deep into his late thirties — even as the podiums became fewer and the gaps to the leaders widened.

With his contract at Israel - Premier Tech set to expire at the end of the year, and no guarantees of a return to racing fitness, questions remain over whether fans will see Froome in the peloton again. But for now, the answer seems to lie not in retirement announcements or final farewells — but in quiet, determined work behind the scenes.