Pauline Ferrand Prevot's Iliac Endofibrosis Returns

Pauline Ferrand Prevot has announced on Instagram that her iliac endofibrosis has returned just over a year after her first diagnosis.

Prevot has apparently been struggling with power in her lower left leg while racing cyclocross for the past 2 weeks and went for a scan yesterday. The doctors confirmed that it was another endofibrosis and, although it is a smaller lesion than last time, it will still require surgery. She is due to have the surgery on Friday and then will begin recovery for the race season.

Iliac Endofibrosis is damage to the layers of the artery wall, which leads to decreased blood flow through the legs and can translate to unprecedented weakness. Last year, Prevot was struggling to push above 70% of her maximum power and unable to maintain a constant power of 200 watts. Unfortunately, recurrence of Iliac Endofibrosis is not uncommon even after surgery. A fifteen-year-long study by three Stanford University MDs in 2016 looked at eighteen patients between 2000 and 2015 who underwent operative intervention, with all of them being high-performance endurance cyclists, triathletes, and long-distance runners. It noted that "82% of patients were able to return to their prior level of physical endurance, in a long-term follow-up survey, 50% of these patients experienced some recurrence of symptoms.''

Last year, Prevot took a four-month break from racing but she returned to win the final World Cup of the year in Snowshoe and the World Championships in XCO and marathon.

We wish Pauline the best with her surgery and hope to see her back on the bike soon.

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Racing and Events XC Racing Pauline Ferrand Prevot