Froome has surgery, back to racing in six months

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has undergone a successful operation following a devastating crash and could be back racing in six months, his surgeon said.

Froome was airlifted to hospital in Saint Etienne for emergency surgery after slamming into a wall at high speed during practice on Wednesday ahead of the fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine race in central France. The force of the impact fractured his pelvis, right femur, and left him with broken ribs and a broken right elbow.

“The operation was long, almost four hours, but it went very, well,” said Remi Philippot, chief surgeon for sports trauma at Saint-Etienne hospital. He said that the crash had caused no neurological or head trauma and he expected Froome would be back in the saddle in six months.