Belgian veteran Tom Boonen has revealed the crash he sustained at the Abu Dhabi Tour in October has left him with permanent hearing damage.
Boonen, 35, was forced to retire from the race during its second stage through the streets of Abu Dhabi, after coming off his bike on the approach to Yas Island.
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Boonen was hospitalised after hitting his head and losing consciousness, with blood coming from his left ear.
He suffered a temporal fracture, and was was prevented from flying back home for two weeks while being treated at Al Noor hospital in the capital.
“I lost part of my hearing and it is permanent. That is annoying but you get used to it,” Boonen told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, before adding he has been given a six-month timeframe to make a full recovery.
“They had told me six months, we are now two months later and I’m training well. I’ve never even had any bother, just my ear.”