Sam Bennett underwent a heart procedure last autumn with an operation to treat atrial fibrillation.
Tipperary’s former Tour de France sprint king suddenly experienced flutters and palpitations in mid-November, with follow up tests taking place the following day.
Bennett then travelled to Frankfurt, Germany, where he underwent a procedure known as an ablation on November 18th to treat the issue.
“It’s quite straightforward,” the Carrick-on-Suir rider told The Irish Times.
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“They go in from a vein in the leg and they burn off the incorrect parts that can cause an irregular heartbeat.
“When you’ve been stuck in AFib [atrial fibrillation] for a few days and you come out on the other side, it felt so smooth and so calm.”
Bennett has decided to speak publicly to spread the word that the issue is both relatively common with endurance sports people and often easily addressed.
He said modern technology had made it easier to detect and diagnose.
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“If I was going to share one message, it’s that if people can afford to get a smartwatch that has ECG, they can catch it in the moment,” he said. “Those ECGs might not be the most accurate, but they’re enough for a specialist to see what’s happening and to go from there,” he said.
An electrocardiogram (ECG) checks the heart’s rhythm and electrical activity.
“AFib is quite a common thing, and it can really be treated,” Bennett said.
He had to stop training after the procedure and he further delayed his return due to catching flu over the Christmas period.
He and his new Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling team decided to play it safe, and he only knuckled down to training about January 10th.
He said his form was at zero but, reassuringly, he has felt a rapid rate of improvement since.
What is intriguing is to see if the operation will affect his results.
Although the symptoms became pronounced in November, Bennett said it was possible the issue may have been affecting him for years.
Once the very best sprinter in cycling, winning two stages plus the green jersey in the 2020 Tour de France, he hasn’t won a WorldTour race since he took two stages in the 2022 Vuelta a España. He caught Covid at that event and hasn’t returned to the same level since.
“I gave the heart specialist feedback of what I felt the last two, three seasons. It’s not a given, but it’s possible that I was having mini episodes going into sprints, because I always felt something was off,” he said. “I couldn’t push. I would go into the sprint, and I’d be fine, but when I’d go to get off the saddle I just had to sit back down, even though I wouldn’t be full of lactate. It was super strange.”
“I did feel flutters or palpitations in the sprints, but I just thought, ‘Oh, good coffee’,” he said with a laugh.
Bennett hopes to resume competition in March, with participation in the Tour de France or another Grand Tour a key goal for the season.
“I just want to hit my best level again. I want to be in the races competing,” he said. “I don’t want to be just making up numbers.”
