Chris Froome swaps road bike for water bike in 225km Mediterranean charity crossing

The British rider will be part of a 32 athlete line up taking on a 225 kilometre route from Viareggio, on the Italian coast, to Monaco. The event, called Together Crossing for the Pelagos, is scheduled to begin on Friday, June 19, and will raise funds for marine protection and water safety projects.

Froome, now 41, will be joined by several familiar names from professional cycling, including former WorldTour riders Jakob Fuglsang and Filippo Pozzato. The participants will be split into eight teams of four as they attempt to cover the full distance across open water.

The route will take the riders through the Pelagos Sanctuary, a protected marine area stretching across parts of the Ligurian coast, Monaco and the French Riviera. The initiative will support the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, two organisations linked to ocean conservation, education and drowning prevention.

For Froome, the challenge marks another unexpected turn in a career that has moved far away from the predictable rhythm of the professional peloton. His most recent race was the Tour de Pologne, and his future as a professional cyclist remains uncertain.

In recent months, Froome has increasingly appeared outside the traditional race calendar. He was named director of innovation at Vekta, an AI powered training platform, and also took part in a Gran Fondo in Panama alongside Alejandro Valverde, where he jokingly recreated his famous run up Mont Ventoux during the 2016 Tour de France.

That wider reinvention has come after a difficult period. In August 2025, Froome was airlifted to hospital following a serious training crash in southern France after clipping a curb near his home in Monaco. His injuries included a collapsed lung, five broken ribs and a fractured lumbar vertebra, while it later emerged he had also suffered a pericardial rupture, a tear to the sac surrounding the heart.

Froome underwent successful surgery in Toulon, and his recovery forced him into an extended spell away from the bike. With his contract at Israel-Premier Tech expiring at the end of that season and no new team yet announced, the question is no longer only when he might return, but whether he will return at all.

If this proves to be the closing stretch of Froome’s racing career, he has already started to look beyond the peloton. He has spoken about his ambition to help develop cycling in Africa, including the idea of setting up a cycling school on the continent.