Bevin’s irregular heartbeat scare
New Zealand cyclist Patrick Bevin has been ruled out of the Tour Down Under starting on Tuesday after suffering an episode of cardiac arrhythmia.
He experienced an irregular heartbeat during training for the Australian stage race with his CCC team and an electrocardiogram confirmed he had supraventricular arrhythmia, which has been treated.
‘‘Patrick Bevin was admitted to the Calvary Wakefield Hospital in Adelaide after noticing some irregularities in his heartbeat during training,’’ said CCC team chief medical officer Dr Max Testa. ‘‘Patrick does not have a history of heart problems however, an electrocardiogram detected an episode of supraventricular arrhythmia.
‘‘Fortunately, this is a non-life threatening condition and is quite common, but it did require immediate treatment to regulate the heart rhythm.
‘‘Thankfully, Patrick experienced this episode whilst with the team and we were able to treat the arrhythmia immediately.’’
Bevin is on his way back to New Zealand, but is expected to make a full recovery.
‘‘It’s disappointing to miss the race after preparing all off season for it and especially after coming so close to the win last year,’’ he said. ‘‘I was looking forward to returning and trying to repeat my success however it’s definitely a case of being safe than sorry and the timing has made it impossible to race here in Adelaide. ‘‘I feel completely fine now and it’s now just a matter of rest and recovery to ensure it doesn’t happen again. With the solid block of offseason training in my legs, I’m confident I can still have a strong start to the season one month later than planned.’’