© Photo Mark Van Heck
Italian Sonny Colbrelli will officially retire from cycling on November 15. That’s what La Gazzetta dello Sport writes. The former winner of the Paris-Roubaix and road race at the 2021 European Championships collapsed after a Tour of Catalonia earlier this year and is now living with a pacemaker. The Italian Cycling Federation prevents him from returning to Peloton in the future. For now, it is still awaiting official confirmation from Colbrelli himself and his team Bahrain Victorious.
Jens Helen
It soon became apparent that Colbrelli had a heart arrhythmia. After a long hospital stay in Girona, an internal defibrillator was implanted in his native Italy. The 32-year-old Bahrain-Victorious racer is still hoping to return to the peloton, but now it appears he has left that hope behind.
In Italy, an athlete is not allowed to continue his career with a pacemaker. The same was true a while ago of footballer Christian Eriksen, who is no longer allowed to play for Inter. The Dane later found shelter in Brentford in the Premier League where this is allowed. But switching to another cycling team won’t solve the problem. A passenger riding under the license of his country of birth. Colbrelli had already raised the option to race in favor of Switzerland, where he lives, but the UCI has reportedly rejected that request.
Colbrelli would have given in to it and organized a press moment with his Bahrain-Victorious team on November 15 to officially announce his retirement.
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