Chris Froome has been diagnosed with a further serious injury aside from those already known about from the day of his crash midweek.
Chris Froome has been diagnosed with further serious injuries to add to his broken leg, elbow and ribs.
The Team Ineos leader and four-time Tour de France champion, also suffered fractures to his sternum, the flat bone in the central part of the chest.
To add to that, he also sustained a fractured C7 vertebrae; a bone in the neck that bears much of the weight of the head.
The fracture to his right femur – the thigh bone – was complex and compound. That means a range of possible other soft tissue injuries around the bone and an open wound.
The femur is the longest and strongest bone in the body and is obviously crucial for cyclists.
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Given the seriousness of an injury like that, and the fracture to his neck as well as the range of fractures he sustained, he faces a long lay-off.
Doctors who operated on him for eight
hours – his leg taking up half that surgery time – said Froome’s period in
intensive care was precautionary.
However, while he is in no danger he lost almost two litres of blood. And reports suggest he was worked on for almost two hours at the location of the crash.
He faces several weeks in hospital - maybe more than a month - and six months out of competition.
However, while it was a very serious crash he is now communicating with those around him.
Furthermore, he posted a photo on Twitter giving the thumbs up from his hospital bed in Saint-Etienne and also released a message of thanks.
“Firstly, I just want to say a huge
thank you to everyone who has sent their best wishes to me since the crash,”
Froome said in a statement.
“This is obviously a tough time but I
have taken a lot of strength from the support over the last three days.
“The outpouring of support has been
really humbling and something I would never have expected.
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“I’d also like to extend my gratitude to
the team, especially Dr Richard Usher and his medical staff, who have been
exemplary since the crash.
“In addition, I am so thankful to the
emergency services and everyone at Roanne Hospital.”
He also thanked the surgeons, doctors
and nurses at the University Hospital of St Etienne.
“(They) have really gone above and
beyond the call of duty, for which I am ever so grateful.
“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.
“Whilst this is a setback and a major
one at that, I am focusing on looking forward,” he said.
“There is a long road to recovery ahead.
But that recovery starts now and I am fully focused on returning back to my best.
“Finally, I want to thank my wife Michelle and my family. They’ve been with me every step of the way and their love and support will motivate me to return as quickly as possible.”
Crash during Dauphiné recon
Chris Froome was doing a recon of the Dauphiné stage 4 TT course when he crashed after taking his hands off the bars to blow his nose.
His team believes a gust of wind took the front of his bike from under him. Froome was traveling at around 55km per hour and crash hard, hitting a low wall.
While he has been laid up it has emerged he may be awarded overall victory in the 2011 Vuelta.
He placed 2nd in that race behind Spanish rider Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC Transformers).
However, the UCI announced on Thursday Cobo had been convicted of bio passport anomalies for the period 2009 to 2011.
While he can appeal that verdict and the three-year ban, if the doping offence stands Froome would be awarded the 2011 Vuelta win.
He would take that ahead of Bradley Wiggins, his them Team Sky team mate at the time who placed 3rd and would move up to 2nd.
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