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Dan Martin thought Chris Froome 'could have been dead' after seeing him crashTeam Ineos Chris Froome Pinarello Dogma F12 (picture credit SWPix.com (17).jpg

Dan Martin thought Chris Froome 'could have been dead' after seeing him crash

Surgeon says Froome will be out for at least six months
by Alex Bowden
Sat, Jun 15, 2019 12:52
13

Earlier this week, Chris Froome crashed at high speed while warming up for the time trial at the Criterium du Dauphiné. Dan Martin, who was riding behind, says he feared the Team Ineos rider was dead in the immediate aftermath.

Froome had taken a hand off the bars to wipe his nose when a gust of wind took his front wheel, sending him into the wall of a house.

Sir Dave Brailsford said that Garmin data indicated he had gone from 54km/h to a "dead stop".

The rider suffered multiple fractures and underwent six hours of surgery on Wednesday night. He is now recovering in hospital.

Chief surgeon Remi Philippot told the BBC that Froome is facing "at least six months" away from cycling.

Dan Martin was riding a little way behind Froome when the crash took place.

"He blew his nose, the wind caught him and then he veered out in front of the team car,” he told Cycling News. “We didn't see what happened but we saw him hit the wall. He didn't have any chance to lose any speed. We didn't want to say anything yesterday out of respect for Chris and his family. It was up to Ineos to say what they needed.

"Refocusing after that was not an easy task. I was thinking about it last night and I'm still replaying it in my head. It's very, very unpleasant."

Recalling the immediate aftermath, Martin said: "Neil [Stephens, the UAE Team Emirates director] and I looked at each other in stunned silence and just stood there for 20 seconds, just shaking.

“I stayed by the team car and we asked if there was anything we could do, but I thought it could have been much worse. I thought he could have been dead. To see something like that isn't pleasant.”

He added: "That could have happened to anyone. It was a freak accident, with a freak gust of wind. It's happened to me in training but at a much slower speed. I once took my hand off the bars to take off an arm-warmer and the wind caught me and I was down. Chris is really unfortunate."

Chris Froome
Dan Martin
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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13 comments

Avatar
mdavidford | 5 years ago
0 likes

Quote:

Sir Dave Brailsford said that Garmin data indicated he had gone from 54km/h to a "dead stop".

 

At least his Garmin seems to have survived uninjured then - there's some consolation for him.

Avatar
ChrisB200SX | 5 years ago
2 likes

Having been hit by a taxi at 40mph, broke 6 ribs (most of them snapped off the vertebrae where they are strongest) lost a kidney and nearly lost my spleen, as well as the associated damage to my lungs and other internals.
Apart from my testes going black/purple and swelling up to the size of grapefruits, a small amount of blood blister bruising on the back of my shoulder, you really couldn't see that I'd been in a life-threatening collision.
The BBC pic does look a bit different to the one I recall seeing the other day though, so maybe it isn't current?

Avatar
fukawitribe | 5 years ago
7 likes

Maybe it just doesn't add up if you're a random couple of bods on a niche cycling website working off bits of media reports rather than, say, a set of qualified medical staff with the relevant data to hand. Maybe.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to fukawitribe | 5 years ago
2 likes

fukawitribe wrote:

Maybe it just doesn't add up if you're a random couple of bods on a niche cycling website working off bits of media reports rather than, say, a set of qualified medical staff with the relevant data to hand. Maybe.

Cool, you've got access to his medical reports, you wouldn't mind popping them up here, would you?

I still reckon that that's an old photo. Jump to whatever conclusion you want after that.

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to don simon fbpe | 5 years ago
1 like

don simon fbpe wrote:

fukawitribe wrote:

Maybe it just doesn't add up if you're a random couple of bods on a niche cycling website working off bits of media reports rather than, say, a set of qualified medical staff with the relevant data to hand. Maybe.

Cool, you've got access to his medical reports, you wouldn't mind popping them up here, would you?

That's rather my point, people saying what he "should" look like based on next to no information.

don simon fbpe wrote:

I still reckon that that's an old photo. Jump to whatever conclusion you want after that.

Could be - but appeared on the Team Ineos Twitter at 07h20 on the 15th June

https://twitter.com/TeamINEOS/status/1139900573594062848

..and duplicated on their website, injury apparently consistent with what we know (which is not much).

Avatar
bigbiker101 replied to don simon fbpe | 5 years ago
3 likes

don simon fbpe wrote:

fukawitribe wrote:

Maybe it just doesn't add up if you're a random couple of bods on a niche cycling website working off bits of media reports rather than, say, a set of qualified medical staff with the relevant data to hand. Maybe.

Cool, you've got access to his medical reports, you wouldn't mind popping them up here, would you?

I still reckon that that's an old photo. Jump to whatever conclusion you want after that.

You reply by saying "Cool, you've got access to his medical reports, you wouldn't mind popping them up here, would you?" yet you feel you are justified saying this nonsense about the photo in the first place, you made the statement, it is up to you to prove what you believe is correct, not for others to prove that you are wrong, forums are full of arrogant ****** like you

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to bigbiker101 | 5 years ago
2 likes

bigbiker101 wrote:

don simon fbpe wrote:

fukawitribe wrote:

Maybe it just doesn't add up if you're a random couple of bods on a niche cycling website working off bits of media reports rather than, say, a set of qualified medical staff with the relevant data to hand. Maybe.

Cool, you've got access to his medical reports, you wouldn't mind popping them up here, would you?

I still reckon that that's an old photo. Jump to whatever conclusion you want after that.

You reply by saying "Cool, you've got access to his medical reports, you wouldn't mind popping them up here, would you?" yet you feel you are justified saying this nonsense about the photo in the first place, you made the statement, it is up to you to prove what you believe is correct, not for others to prove that you are wrong, forums are full of arrogant ****** like you

I totally agree, the photo does look  like an older photo, which is all I have said.  I have to believe what I said is correct? That the photo is an old one? Give me the EXIF data.

What's a ******? And is it compatible with the no personal insults rule?

If I may make a suggestion, slow down, you'll do yourself an injury.

Avatar
Judge dreadful | 5 years ago
0 likes

Chris actually fractured his neck. He’s very lucky to have got off ( relatively) lightly. I hope he makes as full a recovery as he can.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to Judge dreadful | 5 years ago
1 like

Judge dreadful wrote:

Chris actually fractured his neck. He’s very lucky to have got off ( relatively) lightly. I hope he makes as full a recovery as he can.

This must be an old photo then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/48648994

Avatar
Rapha Nadal replied to don simon fbpe | 5 years ago
1 like

don simon fbpe wrote:

Judge dreadful wrote:

Chris actually fractured his neck. He’s very lucky to have got off ( relatively) lightly. I hope he makes as full a recovery as he can.

This must be an old photo then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/48648994

Yeah, it just doesn't add up.  No neck brace, no cast on the elbow, no road rash, all the pillows after vertebrae (sp?) trauma. 

I'm not denying that the man came off his bike but you'd expect more after hitting a wall at some 60kmh, no?

Avatar
Gasman Jim replied to Rapha Nadal | 5 years ago
5 likes

Rapha Nadal wrote:

don simon fbpe wrote:

Judge dreadful wrote:

Chris actually fractured his neck. He’s very lucky to have got off ( relatively) lightly. I hope he makes as full a recovery as he can.

This must be an old photo then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/48648994

Yeah, it just doesn't add up.  No neck brace, no cast on the elbow, no road rash, all the pillows after vertebrae (sp?) trauma. 

I'm not denying that the man came off his bike but you'd expect more after hitting a wall at some 60kmh, no?

Nonsense! That photo is absolutely compatible with his injuries.

If fractures have been internally fixed they don't necessarily need an external brace or cast.

Not all vertebral fractures affect the stability of the vertebral column, he could have just avulsed the tip of a spinous process.

Leave medicine to the medics.

 

Avatar
Rapha Nadal replied to Gasman Jim | 5 years ago
1 like

Gasman Jim wrote:

Rapha Nadal wrote:

don simon fbpe wrote:

Judge dreadful wrote:

Chris actually fractured his neck. He’s very lucky to have got off ( relatively) lightly. I hope he makes as full a recovery as he can.

This must be an old photo then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/48648994

Yeah, it just doesn't add up.  No neck brace, no cast on the elbow, no road rash, all the pillows after vertebrae (sp?) trauma. 

I'm not denying that the man came off his bike but you'd expect more after hitting a wall at some 60kmh, no?

Nonsense! That photo is absolutely compatible with his injuries.

If fractures have been internally fixed they don't necessarily need an external brace or cast.

Not all vertebral fractures affect the stability of the vertebral column, he could have just avulsed the tip of a spinous process.

Leave medicine to the medics.

 

Let's put the lack of road rash and/or cuts down to the Dainese skinsuit & full face helmet he must've been wearing.

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to Rapha Nadal | 5 years ago
0 likes

Rapha Nadal wrote:

Gasman Jim wrote:

Rapha Nadal wrote:

don simon fbpe wrote:

Judge dreadful wrote:

Chris actually fractured his neck. He’s very lucky to have got off ( relatively) lightly. I hope he makes as full a recovery as he can.

This must be an old photo then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/48648994

Yeah, it just doesn't add up.  No neck brace, no cast on the elbow, no road rash, all the pillows after vertebrae (sp?) trauma. 

I'm not denying that the man came off his bike but you'd expect more after hitting a wall at some 60kmh, no?

Nonsense! That photo is absolutely compatible with his injuries.

If fractures have been internally fixed they don't necessarily need an external brace or cast.

Not all vertebral fractures affect the stability of the vertebral column, he could have just avulsed the tip of a spinous process.

Leave medicine to the medics.

 

Let's put the lack of road rash and/or cuts down to the Dainese skinsuit & full face helmet he must've been wearing.

Edit : scratch my previous start to this, I was annoyed. OK, to according to reports the wind took out the front wheel and put him into a wall, with the bike at least stopping pretty much immediately, so not sure how much road rash there would have been and how much would have been visible in that photo anyway. Cuts ? Maybe some but i'm not sure where we would be expecting them without more knowledge of the accident. What little information there is so far seems consistent with a significant non-penetrative impact to the torso, arm on one side and maybe the head/neck area. Which other recent previous crash that involved an elbow injury was this photo from then do you think ? Seriously, it could be a previous one but the evidence in the photo seems to be consistent with this incident.

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