"I got lucky in the end" - Audrey Cordon-Ragot talks about stroke experience

Audrey Cordon-Ragot is one of the most popular riders in the women's peloton and right before the World Championships her career and life were at risk after the French rider suffered a stroke.

“When I got up in the morning, I didn’t feel well. I was disoriented, bordering on faint. I felt like I was drunk," Cordon-Ragot told in an emotional interview with La Télégramme. "Atypical symptoms, vomiting, tinnitus, tingling in the limbs, etc. I wasn’t sure what was happening to me, I just knew it wasn’t normal. I had never felt this... I spent the day in the emergency room.”

What had happened was clear, once the exams were done. “That MRI showed the stroke. It was a shock for me," the 33-year old said. "I stayed in hospital in Pontivy for a few days. I had just finished second in the Simac Ladies Tour. I didn’t have any symptoms. I was ready for the worlds and wanted to train well at home for one more week."

The health issue came out of nowhere, and it has caused a great deal of damage psychologically, who has has been afraid of what could have happened. “Every time I say CVA I cry because it’s a word that makes me scared. It’s not what you want to hear. We know the consequences it can have, like paralysis. For Vincent (her husband), it was shocking too because it reminded him of different family histories. It was hard telling my family what happened.”

“What mattered most to me at the time was to know if I was going to have a future in cycling, to know if I was going to be able to follow my dream to continue until the Paris Olympics in 2024," she continued. "It’s weird to say but it’s a bit like when you fall off a bike, the first thing you look at is your bike. Me, I wondered if I was going to be able to go back on it. This is what connected me to life. Since then, I have been given reassuring news on the subject. I never thought of ending my career. My relatives did not encourage me to do so. I have a career to finish.”

The Trek - Segafredo rider had possibly her most successful season up to date, and was preparing for the World Championships. She had won the Postnord Vargarda WestSweden Road Race and TTT, aswell as both road race and time-trial titles at the national championships and was fresh off a win at the Simac Ladies Tour. “Yes, of course, I was afraid to die. But when it happens to you, you know, it’s more your loved ones who are afraid that you might be gone."

"I know it, I’m a miracle. I got lucky in the end. Today I feel fine. It’s been a month now and I haven’t done exercise in that month. It was hard mentally and physically to not be able to. I will have surgery on the 20th and after that I should be able to continue a normal life with cycling in it," she revealed. "My family also know they can’t slow me down, even though they may be scared. I will have to start slowly but I expect to return to the peloton next year.”

As for her future, she confirms that it will still be within pro cycling: “My new team will be announced soon but it won’t be a surprise that I want to return to my roots, to the place where my cycling all started, and that’s Brittany. I want to return to a team where I can have a high level and focus on my performance 200 percent.”