Chris Froome lost four pints of blood after Criterium du Dauphine crash, says surgeon
Chris Froome lost around four pints of blood after his horrific crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné on Wednesday, according to one of the surgeons who operated on him. Telegraph Sport also understands that further fractures to the sternum and C7 vertebra - the lowest vertebra in the neck region - have been discovered, although these are not as concerning as the internal damage and compacting of organs suffered during the crash. Froome remains in intensive care. He is scheduled to be moved to a rehab facility next week.
Orthopaedic surgeon Giorgio Gresta told Italian newspapers that despite the severity of the injuries there was “no medical reason” why the four-time Tour de France champion could not come back “stronger than before” in six months’ time.
“He was conscious and reactive, when my colleague, Remi Philippot, and I explained what he had and what we would do,” Gresta told La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday.
“He was optimistic despite his injuries not being simple. He seemed determined to ride again and return to racing. And from a medical point of view there won’t be a problem: he can recover from all his injuries.
“We’re at the avant-garde [in recuperation techniques] at Saint-Etienne [hospital]. A number of athletes have come to us to recover from injuries. Froome was unlucky with his crash but he was lucky to be close to us.”
Gresta said the reason Froome was placed in intensive care was because of the amount of blood he lost and the complex surgery. Froome, 34, underwent six hours of surgery to repair fractures to his femur, elbow and ribs, with French media reporting that the fracture to his right femur was a “complex open fracture”.
“The intensive care? That was a precautionary measure due to the length of the surgery and considering that the patient had lost a lot of blood, more or less two litres,” Gresta added. “He’s not facing any specific risk and its important he’s calm and relaxed.
“He’ll be transferred to a normal care unit as soon as possible. His recovery time depends on his desire to fight back but he seems very motivated. He could just need six months to be back stronger than before.”
Meanwhile, Bury’s Adam Yates [Mitchelton-Scott] safely held on to his lead at the Dauphiné on Friday. The Briton finished more than six minutes behind stage winner Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) on stage six.
Alaphilippe outsprinted Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) after the pair of them, plus Alessandro De Marchi (CCC), had broken clear 10km into the stage. The trio were away for more than 200km.
Yates leads Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) by four seconds and Tejay van Garderen (EF Education) by six seconds with two stages of the race remaining.
The Dauphine is traditionally seen as a key marker for the Tour de France.
