Chris Froome has confirmed that he suffered fractures to his left wrist and right hand in the crashes that forced him to withdraw from this year’s Tour de France.
The 29-year-old headed into the race with high hopes of repeating his victory 12 months ago, only for his plans to be dashed with three falls in quick succession.
Froome fell heavily on Tuesday’s fourth stage before going down twice more on wet roads the very next day.
Following the third incident the Team Sky rider was unable to continue and following medical checks at the Monaco Institute of Sport he was able to confirm his injuries.
“MRIs done, confirmed fractures to the left wrist & right hand. Time for some R&R...,” Froome tweeted on Friday evening.
However team doctor Alan Farrell is hopeful that Froome will make a speedy recovery with the Vuelta a Espana taking place next month and the Tour of Britain fast approaching in September as well.
“We made it a matter of priority for Chris to have a thorough investigation into the injuries he sustained as initial scans from the race doctor on stage four couldn’t confirm any fractures," Farrell said.
“Under our instruction, Chris was examined by a specialist at the Monaco Institute of Sport. The process involved MRI scans, which have shown today that Chris suffered a small fracture to one of the bones in his left wrist.
“The investigations also revealed a small fracture to a bone in Chris’s right hand, which hadn’t caused him any undue pain over the two stages.
“Thankfully, his injuries won’t be keeping him off the bike for too long and we expect him to return to training in the next few weeks.”
© Sportsbeat 2014