Peter Sagan confident of return to bike in 15 days after latest heart procedure

Peter Sagan has said he is confident he will be back on his bike in just 15 days after his second heart procedure in a period of three weeks. 

Writing on Instagram, Sagan said that the “pit stop” went well and that he expected to be able to return to training soon. He also shared the medical report from his doctor in the post. 

"Dr. Roberto Corsetti, the Sports Cardiologist who looks after Peter, decided to have a new electrophysiological cardiac assessment performed,” his post read. “Yesterday, March 20th, at the Torrette Lancisi University Hospital in Ancona, a transcatheter ablation for the supraventricular tachycardia was performed by Professor Antonio Dello Russo, in the presence of Dr. Corsetti.”

"I feel very well following the quick pit stop my heart needed and after 15 days of rest I'm confident I will be back on my bike to train," Sagan added. 

The Slovakian had the initial procedure three weeks ago in Italy after experiencing what is known as a tachycardic episode during a mountain bike event in Spain. His return to training was short lived as he experienced further rhythm related issues with his heart meaning that further hospital treatment was required. 

At the time, Sagan’s spokesperson told Cycling Weekly that the issue would have minimal impact on his competition schedule in the coming weeks. Sagan retired from competition on the road at the end of last season with the aim of solely focusing on mountain bike competitions as he looks to qualify for the Paris Olympics this summer. 

It is expected that he will fully retire from cycling after the games, although his recent health issues could impact his chances of achieving qualification. 

According to the UCI website, Slovakia are still some way off from being able to compete and will need a substantial upturn in results in other races in order to ensure they can enter riders in the mountain bike events in Paris. 

Countries ranked between one and eight in the qualification table will be able to field two riders in the cross country race. Those ranked between nine and 19 will be able to field one rider. The ranking period ends at the end of May and Slovakia are currently in 35th place. 

Prior to his second operation, Sagan announced that he had signed a deal to race with the Specialized factory racing MTB team for the 2024 season.