PARIS -- Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome is back in the saddle.
Less than three months after undergoing surgery following a serious crash, the 40-year-old British cyclist posted a selfie on his Instagram page showing him on a Cote d'Azur road. Wearing his training gear and smiling, he posed with the sunrise in the background.
Froome sustained a fractured vertebra, collapsed lung and five broken ribs in the training accident in France.
"It's been a tough road back after my latest crash but it feels so good to finally be out here spinning the legs and on the road again," Froome wrote. "Every setback teaches you something... this one reminded me to slow down, heal and enjoy the simple things in life."
Froome's contract with Israel-Premier Tech -- which is rebranding to NSN Cycling Team in 2026 -- expires this year. He has not announced his plans for next season.
Froome won the Tour de France in 2013 and three in a row from 2015 to 2017.
His career was brought to a halt in 2019 when he crashed while training during the Critérium du Dauphiné, an event he had been using to fine-tune his bid for a record-equaling fifth Tour title. The crash left him with a fractured right femur, a fractured elbow and fractured ribs, and he was unable to compete in the Tour.
After getting back to competitive racing, Froome never returned to the level that helped him secure the Spanish Vuelta (2011, '17) and Giro d'Italia (2018) in addition to his four Tour crowns.