July 3 (Reuters) - Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome has retired from professional cycling, bringing the curtain down on a glittering career spanning over two decades in the sport.
Froome confirmed his retirement ahead of this year's Tour de France, which begins on July 4 and concludes in Paris on July 26.
The 41-year-old has not raced since sustaining life-threatening injuries in a training crash last year in France.
He was airlifted to hospital in Toulon after suffering broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a back fracture.
"Unfortunately, there was that fall last summer," Froome was quoted as saying by The Athletic on Thursday.
"That wasn’t the way I wanted it to end. But even then, I knew it was over."
Asked if his career was over, Froome confirmed, "Yes."
Froome won seven Grand Tours -- four Tour de France crowns, two Vuelta a Espana titles, and one Giro d'Italia victory -- with Team Sky, later rebranded as Team Ineos.
The Briton also won bronze medals in the individual time trial at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and won bronze at the 2017 Road World Championships.
Born in Kenya, Froome said in 2024 that he dreamed of competing in the Tour de France one more time before calling time on his career.
However, he suffered further setbacks, suffering a broken collarbone in a crash during the final stage of the UAE Tour in 2025 and then missing selection for that year's Tour de France.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
