Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome has announced his retirement from professional cycling, bringing the curtain down on one of the sport’s most successful careers.
The 41-year-old Briton has not competed since suffering serious injuries in a crash in August 2025, when he struck a road sign at more than 30mph. The accident left him with five broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a fractured lumbar vertebra.
His wife later revealed that surgeons also discovered and repaired a pericardial rupture, a tear in the membrane surrounding the heart, during the operation.
“Unfortunately, there was that crash last summer – that was not the way I wanted it to end. But even then, I knew it was over,” Froome told Belgian broadcaster Sporza.
Born in Kenya, Froome retires as one of cycling’s all-time greats, having won seven Grand Tours with Team Sky, now Team Ineos. His four Tour de France titles came in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, placing him behind only Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx on the all-time winners list.
He also claimed the Giro d’Italia in 2018 and the Vuelta a España in 2011 and 2017, while earning Olympic bronze medals in the individual time trial at the 2012 and 2016 Games.
In recognition of his achievements, Froome was appointed an OBE in 2015 for services to cycling.
