Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Canyon-SRAM) underwent successful surgery to treat a recurrence of iliac artery endomysial fibrosis, she announced on social media on Friday. The world mountain bike champion is currently recuperating in the hospital and has not disclosed a recovery period. [The surgery went well. A little longer than expected (2 hours) but the super surgeon is happy!" Phelan-Prevot posted on Twitter.

Phelan-Prevot revealed in November 2018 that she was diagnosed with double iliac artery intimal fibrosis, one in each leg. She had been experiencing leg pain and circulation problems since 2015, when she was a triple world champion in road (2014), cyclocross (2015), and mountain biking (2015).

She underwent surgery in February 2019 to correct iliac artery entrapment in both legs and took four months off to recover.

She made a comeback at the MTB World Cup in Val di Sole and won the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont Saint Anne, Canada, at the end of August.

She returned to cyclocross racing this fall, but later announced that she had an unusual condition in one of her legs. After a consultation with her doctor, it was confirmed that it was a recurrence of iliac artery endomysial fibrosis.

According to Ferrand-Prevot, the intestinal fibrosis was milder than the first time, but surgery was scheduled for Friday.