Chris Froome finally confirms retirement from professional cycling

After months of avoiding the question, Chris Froome has announced his retirement from professional cycling, formally bringing the curtain down on a career that saw him win the Tour de France four times. 

Froome confirmed his retirement on Thursday during an appearance as a brand ambassador for Skoda ahead of the start of the Tour de France. According to Sporza, Froome responded with a simple “yes” when asked to confirm his career was over.

“Unfortunately, there was that fall last summer,” Froome continued. “That wasn’t the way I wanted it to end. But even then, I knew it was over.”

During an appearance at the Vuelta a España route presentation in Monaco last December, Froome had been coy about his status. “I’m not really ready to talk about my plans just yet, but when I am, I’ll be sure to let everyone know,” he said then.

Froome’s contract with Israel-Premier Tech expired at the end of 2025 and his last season with the team was cut short by the severe injuries he suffered in a training crash in August.

The 40-year-old had been expected to confirm his retirement at the end of the season, but the announcement was delayed as he underwent surgeries in the wake of his August crash.

Froome began his professional career with Barloworld in 2008 before joining Team Sky for their maiden season in 2010. After initially racing under a Kenyan licence, Froome had switched to a British licence as his professional career began.

His break-out performance came with a surprising second place on the 2011 Vuelta a España, which was later upgraded to overall victory when Juan José Cobo was snared by the biological passport.

In 2012, Froome placed second at the Tour behind Bradley Wiggins, though he gave the distinct impression that he was stronger than his teammate in the high mountains. By 2013, he was Team Sky’s outright leader, and he responded by winning the Tour with startling stage wins at Ax 3 Domaines and Mont Ventoux.

Froome would win the Tour again in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and he would also add the 2017 Vuelta and 2018 Giro d’Italia to his palmarès to complete a full set of Grand Tour wins. 

The 2018 Giro was won with an astonishing long-distance effort on the Colle delle Finestre, and the race played out against the backdrop of Froome’s positive test for salbutamol on the 2017 Vuelta. The case was dropped the week before the 2018 Tour, where Froome placed third overall as teammate Geraint Thomas continued Sky’s winning streak.

The Giro would prove to be the final victory of Froome’s career, which was changed irrevocably by the horrific crash he suffered during a time trial recon at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné.

Although Froome returned to the peloton in 2020, he was omitted from Sky’s Tour line-up, and he left the team at year’s end to join Israel Start-Up Nation on a five-year contract. Froome would never return to his old level, though he placed a spirited third on Alpe d’Huez at the 2022 Tour.

Froome was an increasingly peripheral figure in his final years at the team, though he refused to rule out continuing into 2026 when speaking at the Tour de Pologne last summer. In the same interview, he outlined his intention to establish a foundation for African cyclists when he hung up his wheels.

Froome will follow this year’s Tour in its entirety in an ambassadorial role for Skoda. “It's really cool to be here in a very different capacity,” Froome told AFP.