EFE
06/13/2019
Paris,Jun 12(EFE).-British cyclist Chris Froome is set to miss this year's Tour de France after being involved in a serious crash on Wednesday.
The four-time champion was taken to hospital with a reported broken femur after crashing during a recon of the race's stage four, the Criterium du Dauphine.
He lost control of his bike and hit a wall at speed on a downhill stretch of the course.
"Team INEOS can confirm that Chris Froome crashed during a recon of stage four of the Criterium du Dauphine," his team wrote on its official Twitter account.
"He is currently on his way to a local hospital and will not start today's fourth stage."
Team Ineos manager Dave Brailsford said: "He crashed in the downhill section of the course at high speed."
"He hit a wall. The ambulance came quickly, he has been taken care of and waits for a helicopter to be transferred to Lyon or Saint-Etienne," he added in an interview on French television.
Froome could take a long time to recover from the accident and will defiantly miss the beginning of the Tour de France, which is set to start on July 6 in Brussels, according to Brailsford.
"It is a very serious accident. Clearly, he will not be at the start of the Tour de France," he added.
"It will take quite a long time before he races again."
Froome was treated by an ambulance at the scene of the crash before being transferred to hospital.
He had started his campaign for his fifth victory in the tour, to be one of four other cyclists who have managed to win the Tour De France.
He was eighth overall in the Criterium.
The 34-year-old was crowned four times in Tour de France (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), won Vuelta a España title in 2017 and clinched his first Giro d'Italia title in 2018, the first Brit to win the Italian road race.
Froome has also won three trophies in the Dauphine (2013, 2015 and 2016). EFE
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