Chris Froome says he will “try to pass” the second phase of the Tour de France on Sunday after being injured in a major accident at the opening.
The Briton, a four-time Tour de France champion, was among the hardest hit when more than 50 drivers came within 8 kilometers of the end of the first stage.
Scans showed he avoided any fractures, but Froome said he suffers from “a lot of swelling and bruising.”
“I’m in a lot of pain this morning,” said the driver of the Israeli Start-Up Nation team.
“I’m going to try to break through today, just survive today’s phase and hopefully feel better in the coming days.”
Froome, 36, said the incident, in which he injured his left leg and chest, was a “massacre”.
“It was definitely one crazy phase,” he said.
“Everything was fine for a moment, we were moving towards the goal in the last 10 km, at a speed of 60-70 km / h, then the touch of the wheels in the peloton and there was a massacre with 50 or 60 drivers on the floor.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t go anywhere. I braked as hard as I could, but I just got into the back of the guys who collapsed in front of me.
“I spent the whole evening in the hospital, but everything’s fine.”
Froome finished the phase after 14 minutes winner Julian Alaphilippe.
The seven-time Grand Tour winner, driving as a home team for the Israeli start-up team led by Canadian Michael Woods, has been trying to regain form since suffering multiple fractures in the fall of 2019.
He recently said that he did not expect to compete for the Tour this year after spending the early season working as a domestic.
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