ROANNE, France -- Chris Froome will miss this year's Tour de France after a bad crash in training.
Team Ineos leader Dave Brailsford said the four-time champion suffered a suspected fractured femur in a crash at 40 mph. Froome remained hospitalized in France on Thursday.
He was airlifted to Saint-Etienne hospital in central France and underwent surgery Wednesday after he hit a wall while practicing on the route of the 26-kilometer fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine race in France, which would have been the British rider's first time-trial test this season.
Brailsford said Froome was riding in gusty winds and seemed to lose control of his front wheel when trying to clear his nose. A gust of wind took out his front wheel, he lost control, and he hit the wall of a house.
Froome broke his right femur, elbow and several ribs. He was in intensive care and underwent surgery for several hours. His Ineos Team is expected to give an update on his condition later Thursday.
The 34-year-old would have been trying for a fifth victory in the Tour de France, which starts in Brussels on July 6. He was eighth in the Dauphine standings, 24 seconds behind leader Dylan Teuns of Belgium.
"Chris had worked incredibly hard to get in fantastic shape and was on track for the Tour, which unfortunately he will now miss," Brailsford said.