Geraint Thomas favorite for Tour de France after Chris Froome Crashes Out
Froome undergoes eight hour surgery to repair fractured femur after high speed crash at the Criterium du Dauphine
Chris Froome is in hospital in intensive care after hours of surgery to repair his fractured femur. The four times Tour de France winner was blown off his bike at high speed, aorund 50 km/h on a descent whilst reconing the Dauphine time trial course.
Froome high a wall and rumours are Froom had let go of his handlebars at the time of the crash. Dave Braislford of Team Ineos told the press that Froome had multiple injuries, a broken hip, fractured right femur, fractured elbow and fractured ribs. TheTeam Ineos director stated: "He's not in great shape. There are crashes and bad crashes and this was a bad crash."
Geraint Thomas, who is now expected to take up leadership duties for Ineos at the Tour, said: “Such crap news. It’s always horrible hearing about any bad crash, but even worse when it’s a good mate. Heal up quick.”
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Froome's absence was a blow to the 2019 edition of cycling's biggest stage race.
"The Tour de France won't be the same without him. Chris Froome has been the central character at the Tour since 2013," he said.
French climber Romain Bardet, who came second to Froome on the 2016 Tour de France, described the news of the extent of his fellow rider's injuries as "dreadful, "I didn't realise it was that serious," Bardet said "It's never nice when one of your rivals gets unlucky like that."
Bookies have now placed Geraint Thomas as the favorite behind teammate Egan Bernal, who has been recovering from a broken collarbone that was sustained in the Giro d'Italia.
Reigning champion Thomas is now be in a strong position to lead Team Ineos.
Tom Dumoulin along with Jakob Fuglsang and Adam Yates who took over the lead in the Dauphine yesterday are also firm favorites for the Yellow Jersey.
Richie Porte is considered another potential favorite in the overall classification.
This year's Tour de France starts on Saturday July 6th in Brussels.
This year has been disappointing for Froome. He trailed in 91st in the Tour of Colombia, 94th at the Tour of Catalonia, 11th in the Tour of the Alps and 13th at the Tour de Yorkshire, leaving critics lukewarm over his 2019 Tour de France chances.