TEAM Bahrain Victorious rider Sonny Colbrelli will retire from professional cycling, following medical advice, after having a defibrillator fitted as a result of his collapse shortly after finishing stage 1 of Volta a Catalunya on March 21.
“A year ago in this period, I spent my days celebrating the most important victory of my career, Paris-Roubaix. I never thought I would find myself a year later to face one of the most challenging moments that life has put in front of me. But it’s my life that I want to be grateful for, a life I risked losing and which gave me a second chance,” the Italian said.
Promptly assisted by the medical staff supported by Borja Saenz de Cos at the finish line in Catalunya, Colbrelli was taken into an ambulance to hospital to investigate his condition further. The medical checks confirmed that the rider suffered from an unstable cardiac arrhythmia that required defibrillation.
Following this, he was transferred to the Cardiology Clinic of the University of Padua, where he underwent clinical cardiovascular evaluation. Based on the clinical evaluation results, in agreement with the rider and team medical staff, Colbrelli went through a successful intervention of subcutaneous defibrillator (ICD) implantation.
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