Peter Sagan undergoes operation in Italy after heart irregularities during a mountain bike race

Having retired from road racing at the end of last season, Peter Sagan has returned to mountain biking as he attempts to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris later this year. After a recent race near Valencia in Spain, abnormalities were discovered in his heart rate data, as it exceeded 200 beats per minute.

It was discovered that the three-time World Champion had an arrhythmia during the race and is now undergoing an ablation procedure to correct the irregularities with his heart. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the doctors diagnosed Sagan with ‘anomalous tachycardia with a high ventricular response’.

The Slovakian rider travelled to Italy to have tests done with cardiologist Dr Roberto Corsetti, who was Sagan’s team doctor at Liquigas at the start of his career. The tests showed that the arrhythmias began during high intensity efforts, which are required during the short bursts of acceleration in a mountain bike race.

The test results convinced Sagan to have the surgery, which successfully took place at the university hospital in Ancona on Friday. He is now set to have five to eight days of rest before returning to racing in Marseille in a couple of weeks.