These achievements made him the first cyclist to win the Tour–Vuelta double since the Vuelta was moved to September, the first rider to achieve any Grand Tour double in nearly a decade, and the first to hold all three Grand Tour winners' jerseys at the same time since Bernard Hinault in 1983.
Throughout his career Froome has faced a series of allegations that he exploited a loophole in cycling's anti-doping regulations to use performance-enhancing drugs and in 2023 his former coach was banned for violating anti-doping rules and tampering with anti-doping investigations In 2019 a serious training crash before the Critérium du Dauphiné halted Froome's career, after he broke numerous bones including his pelvis, femur and four ribs.
1985
Christopher Clive Froome [kɹɪs fɹuːm], (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan-British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam.
Froome was born on 20 May 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya, the youngest of three boys to mother Jane and English father Clive, a former field hockey player who represented England at under-19 level.
His mother's parents had emigrated from Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England, to Kenya to run a crop farm.
Whilst living abroad his parents maintained British customs with Sunday roast dinners and Beatles songs which contributed to his desire to represent Great Britain in cycling.
In Kenya he would sell avocados and discarded bike parts.
Froome's two older brothers, Jonathan and Jeremy, went to Rugby School in Warwickshire, England.
When Froome was 13, his mother took him to his first organised bike race, a charity race that he won despite being knocked from his bike by his mother.
There he met professional cyclist David Kinjah, who became Froome's mentor and training partner.
Initially Kinjah misjudged Froome's attitude, fearing he lacked the "work ethic to keep pace with more experienced riders of the group" His mother was upset with his cycling, often driving out ahead, attempting to drive him back home.
After finishing primary school at the Banda School in Nairobi, Froome moved to South Africa as a 14-year-old to attend St. Andrew's School, a publicly funded school in Bloemfontein and St John's College, a boarding independent school in Johannesburg.
Froome attended St John's alongside South African-born Scott Spedding, who went on to a professional rugby union career including playing internationally for France.
Whilst in South Africa he was the school's cycling captain and kept in contact with Kinjah.
He then studied economics for two years at the University of Johannesburg.
In South Africa Froome started to participate in road cycling.
On one of his school holidays, his home club gifted him with a second-hand yellow jersey.
Being unaware of the Tour de France, he failed to see the significance.
2003
His post-accident struggles drew comparisons with former grand tour contender and three-time podium winner Joseba Beloki who infamously crashed out of the 2003 Tour de France while in contention for the victory, and never recovered his former grand tour form.
His most notable Grand Tour accomplishment post-accident was a 3rd-place finish on the Alpe d'Huez stage of the 2022 Tour de France.
Froome was in the top 30 overall on general classification when forced to pull out by illness.
Despite these struggles, Froome remained the most successful general classification rider still active in the peloton as of 2022.
2008
In 2008, he joined the team.
The same year he moved to Italy and started to ride under a British licence.
2010
In 2010, he moved to and quickly became one of the team's key cyclists.
2011
Since 2011 he has been a resident of Monaco.
At the age of 22, Froome turned professional with Team Konica Minolta.
Froome made his breakthrough as a Grand Tour contender during the 2011 Vuelta a España where he finished second overall, later promoted to first, retrospectively becoming the first British cyclist to win a Grand Tour cycling event.
2012
Froome has also won two Olympic bronze medals in road time trials, in 2012 and 2016, and took bronze in the 2017 World Championships.
Froome was born in Kenya to British parents and grew up there and in South Africa.
At the 2012 Tour de France, riding as a super-domestique for Bradley Wiggins, Froome won stage seven and finished second overall, behind Wiggins.
2013
He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one Giro d'Italia (2018) and the Vuelta a España twice (2011 and 2017).
He has also won several other stage races, and the Vélo d'Or three times.
His first recognised multi-stage race win came in 2013, in the Tour of Oman, followed by wins in the Critérium International, the Tour de Romandie, the Critérium du Dauphiné, and the Tour de France.
2014
In the 2014 Tour de France, he retired after multiple crashes.
2015
In 2015, he won his second Critérium du Dauphiné and his second Tour de France.
2016
He won a third Tour de France in 2016 and became the first man since Miguel Induráin in 1995 to successfully defend his title.
2017
He won his fourth Tour de France in 2017, followed by successive wins at the 2017 Vuelta a España and the 2018 Giro d'Italia, his first victories in both races.
2020
Although he managed to recover following surgery to return to the peloton in 2020, he struggled to regain his former form.
He left Ineos Grenadiers at the end of 2020 to join Israel Start-Up Nation but his form struggles continued through the 2021 season, with Froome failing to contend seriously in stage races since his accident.
