Britain's Chris Froome will not start next month's Tour de France after crashing heavily in the Criterium du Dauphine yesterday, Team Ineos manager Dave Brailsford said. Froome was taken to hospital after hitting a wall at high speed during a course reconnaissance of the 26.1 km individual time trial around Roanne in central France, with British media reporting that he had suffered a broken leg. "It's a very serious accident. Clearly, he won't be at the start of the Tour de France. It'll take quite a long time before he races again," Brailsford told French television. "He crashed in the downhill section of the course at high speed. He hit a wall. The ambulance came quickly, he's been taken care of and waits for a helicopter to be transferred to Lyon or Saint-Etienne." Six-times Grand Tour winner Froome, alongside team mate Geraint Thomas, was one of the favourites for the Tour de France, which he has won four times. It begins on July 6.
