Cycling news - Chris Froome on crash ordeal: I was coughing up blood, I was having help to breathe
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Updated 03/08/2019 at 13:05 GMT
Chris Froome has opened up on the trauma he suffered in aftermath of his injury at the Criterium du Dauphine in June.
Chris Froome admits he's lucky to be alive.
Image credit: Eurosport
Froome fractured his femur, pelvis and ribs and suffered a broken elbow during a fall on Stage 4 of the precursor to the Tour de France.
The four-time Tour champion spoke movingly about his crash and the aftermath in a video released by Team Ineos on Saturday.
"Around where I crashed I have no recollection at all," Froome said.
"I remember lying on the ground, I can remember the first responders coming over to me. My coach Tim Kerrison, Gary Blem, my mechanic and Servais Knaven, my director, were all in the car behind me.
"I think my first question was: ‘Can I get up? Can I get back on my bike? Am I going to be OK?’ And they made it very clear that I wasn’t and I should just lie still and that I wouldn’t be carrying on with the rest of the race.
“One of my first questions was: ‘Am I going to be alright for the Tour de France?’ And they very quickly put that out of my mind. They obviously couldn’t give a prognosis but they said it looks like your leg is broken and your arm doesn’t look good either. So no, you’re not going to be on your bike.
Those first moments really hit home and I took it on board that I'm not going to be racing the Tour de France this summer. It almost felt like a scene from Greys Anatomy or something.
The pain was worst for Froome when he woke after his first surgery, but this was soon buoyed by news that his injury was not career-ending.
I could barely even breathe...my lungs had been damaged by my broken ribs and my broken sternum as well. I was coughing up blood, I was having help to breathe as well. It was scary when I did come round in the morning after the operation and felt how helpless I was lying in that bed.
That news from the surgeon that you can make 100% recovery, there's nothing stopping you, from that point on it felt like everything was so positive.
"I was incredibly lucky not to be more seriously injured."
Now Froome is doing six hours of exercise a day, which now involves putting weight on his injured right leg again, with one overarching ambition in mind.
"The only goal I've set myself is to get back to the Tour de France next year," Froome said.
"To get to the start...at a similar or better position than I was this year. That's what's driving me at the moment."
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