“Colbrelli has to stop: Defibrillator means end of cycling career”
Cyclist Sonny Colbrelli retires. The Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that the 32-year-old Colbrelli can and wants to ride a bike, but the Italian can no longer practice his profession since he has been going through life with an internal defibrillator since this spring.
The Italian, who won Paris-Roubaix in 2021 and was also Italian and European champion, collapsed in March after finishing what is now his final race. On the stage to Sant Feliu de Guíxols, he finished second in the Tour of Catalonia and immediately suffered cardiac arrest. After successful resuscitation, he ended up in Girona hospital. The cause was quickly found there: cardiac arrhythmias.
regulations
Those problems are now under control thanks to an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) and Colbrelli says he’s feeling fine. He was dying to return to the cycling peloton, but regulations stand in his way. Top sport with ICD is forbidden in Italy.
Top soccer player Christian Eriksen also came across this rule; he is now playing in England. In the Netherlands, Ajax player and national team player Daley Blind plays football with a box that has to keep his pulse in check.
Colbrelli lives in Switzerland and is still checking whether he can get a license for this country to continue his career. According to La Gazzetta, the international cycling federation UCI has not given permission for this change. After that, Colbrelli would have decided to choose eggs for his money.
Colbrelli began his career as a sprinter, but gradually developed into an all-round driver and winner of major competitions. Because as a sprinter in his early years he mainly won smaller races and drove nice places of honor, his big victories only came last year.
2021 was his year. He became Italian and European champion and won the classic Paris-Roubaix under heroic circumstances. He also impressed by joining the best in almost every terrain in the Critérium du Dauphiné stage race.
A press conference will be held by his team Bahrain-Victorious on November 15th, which is expected to announce that Colbrelli is retiring from cycling.
Source:NOS
I’m Maxine Reitz, a journalist and news writer at 24 Instant News. I specialize in health-related topics and have written hundreds of articles on the subject. My work has been featured in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Healthline. As an experienced professional in the industry, I have consistently demonstrated an ability to develop compelling stories that engage readers.
