Audrey Cordon-Lago opened up about the stroke she suffered last month, revealing the horrific symptoms and missed diagnosis.

As the French road race and time trial champion was preparing to head to Australia for the world championships, she said in an interview with L'Equipe magazine (opens in new tab), she felt lightheaded, almost intoxicated, and began experiencing ringing in her ears and began to feel numbness in her limbs.

She spent the day in the hospital, but doctors could not pinpoint the cause, suspected diabetes, and prescribed anti-dizziness medication.

Cordon-Lago reveals that she told her husband immediately that she might have had a stroke, but only received confirmation when the French Federation ordered her to undergo an MRI scan to allow her to travel to Australia.

"If the federation had not insisted, I would have been on a plane on Sunday and it could have been really dramatic. Without the anticoagulant, I definitely would have had another stroke. [If I hadn't had the MRI scan, I would have had to abstain from the time trial at the World Championships, but I would have been able to get on the plane for the road race. I was really lucky."

Cordón-Lago describes the period of immense shock and fear following his diagnosis. It was made worse when he logged onto social media and was met with a barrage of negative comments accusing him of being capricious and disrespectful for missing the World Championships.

"I'm usually very in your face, but that affected me a lot. At the time, I couldn't believe that anyone could criticize me without knowing anything about it," she says.

"Those comments pushed me to speak publicly about my stroke at a time in my life when I didn't necessarily want to be open about it. I wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Because of those people, I had to speak.

Cordon Lagotto feels that even when the word stroke is mentioned, there is perhaps a lack of awareness, and she is speaking out to change that. She wants the sports community to take the issue more seriously, but also wants improvements for those who do not have easy access to medical assistance.

"Not everyone is lucky. Most people are left in the dark, no one is there to care for them, and thousands are dying. I find that horrifying," she said. 'I want people to know that they are not alone, that it can happen to anyone. If my example can help people, then I have won a great victory."

Cordón-Lago will recover strongly and will be able to achieve what she hoped was her "worst fear" and resume her life as a professional cyclist in 2023.

She underwent a heart scan soon after her diagnosis, which identified a hole in her heart as the cause of her stroke. On Thursday, she underwent surgery to close the hole in her heart and will be allowed to ride her bike in early November, slowly beginning her winter training.

"I feel great right now," she said. The science is amazing." All I have to do now is recover and start training. I can't wait."

Cordon-Lago said she hopes to continue racing until the 2024 Olympics in her native France and revealed that she will leave Trek-Segafredo to join the new B&B Hotels women's team.

"I'm very excited. Even before my stroke, I felt the need to throw myself into a new adventure. I'm at a turning point in my career and I know exactly when I'm going to stop. I'm lucky to be able to make that decision."

"Seeing it almost taken away from me has made me even more motivated by the idea of making these last two years the best of my career."