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Cycling's Sagan has heart procedure, Olympics still in view / Photo: © AFP
Cycling's Sagan has heart procedure, Olympics still in view
Triple road race world champion Peter Sagan underwent heart checks Friday to deal with an arrhythmia problem that emerged in a mountain bike race last weekend, his personal spokesman told AFP.
The 34-year-old Slovak who took the Tour de France green sprint points jersey seven times was treated in a hospital in Ancona in Italy.
The spokesman said Sagan's season target of qualifying for the Olympic Games mountain bike event should still be attainable.
Sagan's heartbeat went above 200 bpm during a tachycardia episode suffered during the race at Valencia, but the cyclist did not eventually need surgery, it was decided after the medical procedure at the Ancona hospital to ascertain his condition.
"Peter is okay," Sagan's spokesman told AFP.
"He'll be back on the bike in a week or so and will follow the same program as he had planned. Everything is under control."
As well as his world titles between 2015-2017, Sagan won a dozen stages on the Tour de France and had wins in the Tour de Flandres and Paris-Roubaix amongst his 121 professional career victories.
He planned to bring down the curtain on a 14-year career after the Games and a season on the mountain bike circuit.
W. Winogradow--BTZ
