A recent report details the events of cyclist Chris Froome being hit by a vehicle while training.
The British cyclist Chris Froome filed a complaint on Tuesday after being struck, “on purpose”, according to him, on a road on a ledge by the seaside in Beausoleil, near Monaco, by a surly motorist.
The three-time winner of the Tour de France (2013, 2015 and 2016) he told the story of his misfortune on his Twitter account: “I was just struck by an impatient driver who chased me on the pavement. Fortunately, I’m fine, the bicycle is totally destroyed, the driver is on the run.”
The 31-year-old Sky cyclist added a picture of his damaged bike to his message before the police confirmed the accident a few hours later.
“Mr. Froome filed a complaint at the police station in Beausoleil where he was received by an officer, and he was very calm and was rushed by a vehicle that was “tailgating” him. The bike is totalled,” confirmed the police station of Menton.
“The problem is that he does not have the registration number of the car and it will be a bit complicated (to find the motorist, editor’s note). The images of the CCTV cameras along the route will be checked, as there are a few,” the source added.
In the meantime, the complaint should allow the cyclist to be covered by his insurance. The French police has found that there is an increasingly difficult coexistence between cyclists and motorists on the road of the ledge overhanging the Mediterranean, where Chris Froome was training: “The route is nice by bike but it is narrow and winding and the motorists act as though they were Sébastien Loeb”.
On 22 April, Italian Michele Scarponi, winner of the Tour of Italy in 2011, was killed in a road accident at the age of 37 after having been struck by a pickup truck during a training trip.
Hopefully further details will emerge. Luckily Chris Froome was spared a tragic fate but it is nonetheless worrying to hear of a skilled cyclist being hit by a vehicle in this way.
