Eight months after a very serious fall while recognizing the prologue of the Dauphiné , Briton Chris Froome (Nairobi, 34 years old) will return this Sunday to ride a bicycle again on the Tour of the Emirates . A new new challenge for the four-time Tour winner , especially for those who saw him stamped against a wall at 54 kilometers per hour. For many, a miracle.

It was a June 12 and he was shooting with his ex-partner Wout Poels to know where to drive the tooth to the initial chronicle of the Dauphiné. An oversight hit him against a brick wall, breaking his hip, elbow, femur, some ribs, the sternum and several vertebrae .

Some eyewitnesses would have signed after seeing the scene the simple fact that Froome was still alive. Others, that the accident will only cost the withdrawal of cycling and sports. But Froome was born in Africa and there he learned to never give up on anything.

At the Hospital de Saint Etienne, after 8 hours of operation , the first of a few, immediately launched a sign of optimism and courage, a response aimed at recovering and preparing to achieve your dream: reach the fifth Tour and put your name together to the legendary Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Antquetil and Miguel Indurain.

After 8 months of hard work to tune up his skeleton, after saving the days in intensive care and countless rehabilitation sessions, Froome returns to get "excited" a dorsal.

" No one should underestimate Chris Froome, " said director Dave Brailsford from the beginning. The coach of Ineos knows it well, although he saw the difficulties of the Briton to walk last October.

Froome returns with a huge goal: to fight for the Tour de France with 35 years and for gold in the Olympic Games a week after the Paris podium. Nobody dares to take the opposite, only the road will dictate sentence. Your fitness and total recovery has the answer in time.

David Kinjah, Froome's first coach in Africa laughed at him because "he was skinny and was riding a bike with his elbows open, as if he wanted to fly." But the blond and skeletal boy, raised in Kenya, quickly became accustomed to an active and adventurous outdoor lifestyle.

And about the laughs, no matter, nobody knew what I was thinking. That challenge, sometimes reckless before wild animals, was for his initial coach, the germ of the spirit that characterizes the double winner of the Tour.

Froome's " resurrections" have written unforgettable pages in today's cycling . On May 25, 2018, in the nineteenth stage of the Tour between Venaria Reale and Bardonecchia, Froome left more than 3 minutes from British leader Simon Yates and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin. In a journey of 184 kilometers and 4 ports, something happened for the story. Climbing the Colle della Finestre , Froome attacked 80 kilometers to the finish line. Between applause and some whistles by the positive, then exculpated, in the Vuelta 2017, Froome flew to the finish line and the pink maglia, which he already held until Rome, was covered.

Two years after that feat, doubts come from the purely physical side. Will you be able to return to your best version? His former partner and Tour winner Bradley Wiggins has no doubt. "Chris Froome is the best cyclist of our generation . I think the accident will rejuvenate him and come back with a new motivation and will be even stronger." I think he has another Tour victory on his legs. "

Alberto Contador , the only Spanish cyclist winner of the big three, also hopes to see the best Froome again. "He is a champion and his motivation will be to return to the level of before. We must not rule him out at all," although then in his team he has to deal with the interests of the captaincy , along with the Colombian Egan Bernal, winner of the 2019 Tour and the Welshman Geraint Thomas

For Froome, the Tour-Tokyo goal is "realistic", and history supports it. "In 2012 we did exactly that and certainly the time trial went pretty well with a gold and bronze medal just a few days after the Tour. The hard part will be the trip to Japan and the time lag. It will be a difficult challenge, but I think What is posible.

The 2020 Olympic road race, which will have Mount Fuji as a backdrop, will be suitable for climbers

"I had the opportunity to go to see the Olympic route en route and it was a great experience. Although the weather is quite bad, we could still see the main climbs of the race and the final part well. It will be a true race of climbers ".

Between dreams, Froome returns to compete in the United Arab Emirates , in the only test of the World Tour in the Middle East. First exam after a real ordeal. As David Kinjah proudly says: "Froome is a guy who, if he is one hundred percent, will prove you wrong. Just give him a chance."

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