'On the way home I bought two bottles of pure vodka'; famous Belgian former rider publicly discloses alcohol addiction

Well-known Belgian former cyclist Leif Hoste has publicly confessed in a candid interview with HLN that he has long struggled with an addiction to alcohol. Hoste, who finished second three times in the Tour of Flanders, states that his addiction is a "battle of life and death" for him.

Hoste begins his revelation to HLN with a situation sketch. 'I didn't know night and day anymore. Everything was driven by a constant craving for booze. At least ten times I was admitted to a hospital emergency room with more than 4.5 promille in my blood. When I was somewhat approachable again, the doctors would say, 'If you carry on like this, it's over and out.'

'I didn't want to die at all, but an hour and a half later I put on my pants and shoes, pulled the IV out of my arm and fled from the hospital. On the way home I bought two bottles of pure vodka at Colruyt. It was that powerful," the Belgian said.

'Competing for a victory in the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix? That doesn't come close to the ankles of the battle I'm fighting now,' he says. 'An alcohol addiction is a battle against yourself, but one of life and death. If I continue like this, I won't survive.'

Hoste, who for many years was one of the best classical riders in the world, quit cycling in 2012 and then found himself in penury. 'Not only professionally, life hasn't been easy in private either. My childhood, the way I grew up: that was not an easy time. But I won't go into that any further. My career also felt like a failure at one point.'

'Add to that a divorce and the contact with my daughter that was diluted.... I could no longer process everything in a healthy way. It's strange to say, but the drink gave me peace and control. I found comfort in the bottle. Before you know it, you're rolling in it and you're in it up to the nostrils. And then you can't breathe," he says.

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'It started with a glass to help me sleep better. A little later I drank even earlier in the day and poured a Duvel right after work. Still later, I started drinking as soon as I drove home after work. That's how things got worse and worse. But I denied that to myself. 'It's only alcohol. If I want to quit next week, I'll just do it,'" he pointed out.

'And you keep putting off that stopping, because there's another friend's birthday party, a niece's communion party and you name it. Until at some point I evolved into alcohol abuse that was guaranteed to be fatal - three bottles of vodka a day. 'An ordinary person doesn't survive that,' said a doctor I've known for 30 years," Hoste told HLN.

The Belgian was hospitalized several times and has not been drinking for six months now. 'I am an addicted person. I have to accept it and live by it. In my case, that means not drinking anything anymore. Someone who is suddenly diagnosed with diabetes also has to take that into account. I have to adjust, because I don't want to fight it for the rest of my life. If I fight it, I lose anyway.'