Chris Froome

Chris Froome, a British former professional road cyclist, was born in Kenya on 20 May 1985 to British parents and grew up in Kenya and South Africa. He has lived in Monaco since 2011. Over his career, he won seven Grand Tours: the Tour de France in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017; the Giro d’Italia in 2018; and the Vuelta a España in 2011 and 2017. He also earned three Vélo d’Or awards, Olympic bronze medals in the road time trial in 2012 and 2016, and a bronze at the 2017 World Championships.

Froome turned professional at age 22 in 2007 with South Africa’s Team Konica Minolta. The following year, he joined Team Barloworld, moved to Italy, and began racing under a British licence after previously representing Kenya. In 2010, he moved to Team Sky and soon became a key rider. His breakthrough as a Grand Tour contender came at the 2011 Vuelta a España, where he initially finished second but was later promoted to first, making him the first British cyclist to win a Grand Tour. At the 2012 Tour de France, he served as a super-domestique for Bradley Wiggins, winning stage seven and placing second overall.

His first multi-stage win came in 2013 at the Tour of Oman, followed by victories in the Critérium International, Tour de Romandie, Critérium du Dauphiné, and Tour de France. He withdrew from the 2014 Tour de France after several crashes. In 2015, he won his second Critérium du Dauphiné and second Tour de France. He claimed a third Tour de France in 2016, becoming the first rider since Miguel Induráin in 1995 to defend the title successfully. In 2017, he won his fourth Tour de France, then took his first Vuelta a España victory, and in 2018 his first Giro d’Italia. These wins made him the first cyclist to achieve the Tour–Vuelta double since the Vuelta moved to September, the first to complete any Grand Tour double in nearly a decade, and the first since Bernard Hinault in 1983 to hold all three Grand Tour winners’ jerseys simultaneously.

Throughout his career, Froome faced repeated allegations of exploiting a loophole in anti-doping rules to use performance-enhancing drugs. In 2023, his former coach was banned for violating anti-doping regulations and tampering with investigations. A serious training crash before the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné ended Froome’s peak form, breaking his pelvis, femur, and four ribs. He returned after surgery but never regained his pre-crash level.

Froome was the youngest of three boys, born to Jane and Clive Froome, an English former field hockey player who represented England at under-19 level. His mother was born and raised in Kenya after her parents emigrated from Tetbury, Gloucestershire, to run a crop farm. At home, British customs like Sunday roasts and Beatles songs fostered his desire to race for Great Britain. His older brothers attended Rugby School in England. When Froome was 13, his mother took him to his first organised bike race—a charity event he won despite being knocked off his bike by her car. There he met professional cyclist David Kinjah, who became his mentor, though Kinjah initially doubted his work ethic. Froome’s mother often tried to drive him home from cycling.

After primary school at the Banda School in Nairobi, Froome moved to South Africa at 14 with his father to attend St. Andrew’s School in Bloemfontein and later St John’s College in Johannesburg, a boarding school where he was cycling captain. He kept in touch with Kinjah and later studied economics for two years at the University of Johannesburg. On a school holiday, his club gave him a second-hand yellow jersey, but he did not understand its significance, unaware of the Tour de France. He began road racing in South Africa, specialising as a climber. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, he raced for Kenya in the time trial (17th) and road race (25th), catching the eye of future Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford, who saw him as a diamond in the rough with huge potential.

At the 2006 under-23 Road World Championships in Salzburg, representing Kenya, Froome crashed into an official just after the time trial start, but neither was injured; he remounted and finished 36th. He entered the championships by impersonating Kenyan cycling federation president Julius Mwangi via email, hoping to gain European racing experience and a professional contract.