Four-times Tour de France champion Chris Froome sustained a life-threatening injury to his heart in a training crash in southern France last week, his wife Michelle said.

The 40-year-old Briton was airlifted to hospital in Toulon after the August 27 crash, which also left him with broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a back fracture.

His wife told The Times that doctors discovered Froome had suffered a pericardial rupture — a tear in the protective sac surrounding the heart, often caused by blunt chest trauma.

"It was obviously a lot more serious than some broken bones," she said. "He's fine but it's going to be a long recovery process. He won't be riding a bike for a while."

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