Katusha rider hoping that blood injections will cure problem
Struck by severe headaches ever since a bad crash in the Three Days of De Panne at the end of March, Leif Hoste has had the cause of the pain diagnosed; the Belgian has a rip in his brain.
“I lose cerebrospinal fluid through the crack, so I get headaches at the slightest exertion,” he told Het Laaste Nieuws. “This can be solved with blood patches or with surgery. Hopefully, the misery will now be over quickly.”
Hoste is best known for finishing second on three occasions in the Tour of Flanders. The 34 year old is also a triple Belgian time trial champion and, when on form, is a very good Classics competitor. He won the De Panne event in 2006.
He fell heavily on stage one of this year’s race, going over the handlebars and landing on his head. He suffered a bad cut above his eye and lost a tooth.
In June he talked about the lingering problem, saying that he suffered a horrendous headache if he trained for more than two hours. He also said that he had trouble setting any sort of decent pace. After that he learned that he had a herniated disk in his neck, and suggested that the cerebrospinal fluid could be leaking. It now turns out that the problem is directly in his brain itself.
Despite the nature of the problem, he is optimistic that it can be sorted out. “They treat me with blood patches, which they inject my own blood in my spinal cord,” he said. If that doesn’t work, he stated that he might be subjected to an operation through his nose.
Hoste hopes it won’t come to that, and that the initial measures to treat him will be successful.