{"id":399458,"date":"2026-01-10T01:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T01:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/399458\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T01:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T01:01:09","slug":"top-pro-cyclist-forced-to-retire-with-dreaded-artery-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/399458\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Pro Cyclist Forced to Retire with Dreaded Artery Condition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated January 9, 2026 10:51AM<\/p>\n

Eli Iserbyt<\/a> \u2014 one of Belgium\u2019s biggest cyclocross stars \u2014 is the latest pro racer forced to retire from cycling\u2019s most feared vascular condition.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old shared the news in an emotional video posted to Instagram, revealing a year-long battle to treat iliac artery endofibrosis<\/a>, a condition that impaired blood flow in his left leg and ultimately proved impossible to resolve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent weeks, I have received news from multiple doctors that it is no longer medically advisable for me to ride my bike, recreationally and competitively,\u201d Iserbyt said on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always shared the beautiful moments with you, but now I also want to give you this news,\u201d he said. \u201cUnfortunately, it is no longer possible for me to continue with my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sporza on Friday, Iserbyt described how all the medical solutions were exhausted after he underwent four surgeries and endless rehab during the past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put everything into cyclocross. And now that life suddenly disappears\u201d, Iserbyt told Sporza<\/a>. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to stop at all, that\u2019s not me. But after four surgeries and a long process, the doctors said the medical trajectory was exhausted. That was hard to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cycling\u2019s most dreaded diagnosis
\n\"MarianneVos, shown here at the 2025 Paris-Roubaix, recovered from surgery. (Photo: Chris Auld\/Velo)<\/p>\n

Iserbyt \u2014 a two-time U23 CX world champion \u2014 is the latest big name to see their racing career come to a screeching halt after complications with iliac artery endofibrosis, something of a b\u00eate noire among pro cyclists.<\/p>\n

Several top pros have faced the condition over the years. Proper treatment and some luck usually see them return to the peloton.<\/p>\n

One recent high-profile case includes Shirin van Anrooij, who underwent successful surgery last spring, and she\u2019s since returned to racing.<\/p>\n

Other leading pros who were successfully treated and resumed racing include Fabio Aru<\/a> in 2019 and Bob Jungels in 2021. Others who dealt with different iterations of the issue include Joe Dombrowski, Marianne Vos<\/a>, and Annemiek van Vleuten.<\/p>\n

French star Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot successfully dealt with similar blood-flow issues in 2018 and later went on to win the Olympic gold medal in mountain bike and became France\u2019s first winner of the Tour de France Femmes.<\/p>\n

Sometimes surgery doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

Iserbyt underwent four interventions in less than one year and tried in vain to return to training in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was given a plan to gradually build up my training load. But when I was allowed to do everything at the training again, it deteriorated very quickly in a week,\u201d he told Sporza. \u201cAnything above a heart rate of 100 caused a huge pain in my leg.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things ended badly for others as well.<\/p>\n

Former CX world champion and classics star Zdenek Stybar<\/a> was riddled with issues and underwent surgery in May 2023 to address IAE. Coupled with other health complications, he retired at the end of that year.<\/p>\n

American pro Tayler Wiles underwent surgery in 2022<\/a>, but was later forced to retire the following summer.<\/p>\n

Fabio Jakobsen also underwent surgery last spring for restrictive blood flow in both legs, only to crash out with a broken collarbone in August 2025. No word yet on his 2026 calendar.<\/p>\n

Just this week, Nils Eekhoff, also of Picnic PostNL, is undergoing surgery for the condition and will miss the spring classics.<\/p>\n

Cycling\u2019s top occupational hazard
\n\"IserbytIserbyt, shown here last winter in one of his last races, was forced to retire. (Photo: DAVID PINTENS\/BELGA MAG\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Iliac artery endofibrosis (IAE) is something of an occupational hazard for elite pros.<\/p>\n

But what is it, and why is it so costly to a pro cyclist\u2019s career?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe medical term is endofibrosis of the pelvic artery,\u201d Dr. Roel Beelen told Sporza,<\/a> the vascular surgeon who operated on Iserbyt and others in his career. \u201cIt mainly occurs in athletes who make a deep hip movement, such as cyclists and skaters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Beelen described IAE as a vascular condition particularly acute for elite cyclists.<\/p>\n

The repeated efforts of riding tens of thousands of kilometers per season over a career can trigger a narrowing of the iliac artery, one of the main pipelines that carries blood from the pelvis to the legs.<\/p>\n

That narrowing can cause leg pain, numbness, swelling, cramping, and \u2014 worse for top pros \u2014 a loss of power and endurance during intense efforts due to reduced blood flow to the leg, Dr. Beelen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the complaints persist, they become less typical. Then you often see that it turns into chronic pain,\u201d he said. \u201cOne compares it to a continuous bruise, the other feels exactly electric current through his leg. And some of them are in really stabbing pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

For elite athletes, who use blood flow like jet fuel, the diagnosis can be even more traumatic.<\/p>\n

The real gut punch comes with a drop in power and efficiency that\u2019s immediately noticeable in training and racing. Sprinters can no longer ramp up the watts, and climbers don\u2019t have the power to stay close in the 20-minute-plus efforts on Europe\u2019s steepest roads.<\/p>\n

Dr. Beelen said the problem has been rampant for decades in the peloton, often leading to surgical intervention to clear the duressed arteries.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s power meters and more detailed training and racing data, however, allow doctors and trainers to detect the problem earlier than before, he told Sporza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, it\u2019s about a few percent difference between left and right. Then you see that the explosiveness is fading,\u201d Dr. Beelen said. \u201cBeing able to sprint for less time or sustain an effort uphill.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see that a rider starts overcompensating with the other leg, which also causes overload.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diagnosed early, bike-fitting with a more upright position can help alleviate symptoms, but that\u2019s hardly a solution for top pros seeking the most aerodynamic position that elite racing demands today.<\/p>\n

Often, the only solution is surgery and patient rehab for the lucky, or, in the most extreme cases, forced retirement like Iserbyt.<\/p>\n

Four surgeries and no solution
\n\"EliIserbyt speaks to the media on Friday in a press conference. (Photo: KURT DESPLENTER \/ Belga \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Iserbyt, 28, has not raced since February 2025. Now we know why.<\/p>\n

Doctors delivered the bad news last winter. Iserbyt tried everything, but after four operations, doctors said the risk was too high.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just bad luck. Surgery on an artery is also a very heavy procedure,\u201d he told Sporza. \u201cThe more you cut into an artery, the worse the tissue becomes. And I\u2019ve had that operation four times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The medical verdict this winter marked an end to his pro career, and Iserbyt said doctors warned him that even light riding could carry health risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can only walk at the moment. Cycling and running are off the table, and I\u2019ll probably never be able to do that again, because the artery in my left leg is very battered,\u201d Iserbyt said. \u201cI am very sorry about that. Mentally, it\u2019s also tough. The uncertainty eats me.\u201d<\/p>\n

It marks an abrupt end to one of Belgium\u2019s most reliable cyclocross careers of the past decade. Iserbyt made his name as a pure CX specialist, and occasionally lined up on the road.<\/p>\n

His palmar\u00e8s includes 54 wins in CX, including two U23 world championships and a Belgian national title in 2024. He consistently hit podiums across the World Cup, Superprestige and X2O Trophy series.<\/p>\n

Several colleagues, from Wout van Aert<\/a> to Mathieu van der Poel, shared their condolences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t sleep anymore, I locked myself up and didn\u2019t live anymore,\u201d Iserbyt told Sporza. \u201cFortunately, in the course of my career I have a team that supports me enormously. I think that\u2019s my salvation right now.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated January 9, 2026 10:51AM Eli Iserbyt \u2014 one of Belgium\u2019s biggest cyclocross stars \u2014 is the latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[168574,49,48,635,62140,82,133554,168571,62576,168572,168573,54267],"class_list":{"0":"post-399458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-audio-true","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-parent_category-news","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tag-cyclocross","15":"tag-tag-eli-iserbyt","16":"tag-tag-evergreen","17":"tag-tag-iliac-artery-endofibrosis","18":"tag-tag-worldtour","19":"tag-type-article"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}