On Sunday, Italian professional road cyclist, Sonny Colbrelli, retired from the sport as a consequence of problems caused by a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia experienced in a bicycle race earlier this year.
Colbrelli, 2021 winner of perhaps the greatest one-day bicycle race in the world (Paris-Roubaix, the “Hell of the North’), collapsed with a complete loss of consciousness after finishing second in the brutal uphill sprint at the finish line of Stage One of the Volta a Catalunya in March of this year. Reports stated that Colbrelli had to receive defibrillation in order to restore normal heart rhythm.
I could relate to Colbrelli’s plight because I had a similar arrhythmia nearly two years ago. Like Colbrelli, I lost consciousness due to a ventricular arrhythmia. (I wasn’t racing.) Unlike Colbrelli, my heart resumed normal rhythm (sinus rhythm) on its own, which is considered a good thing. Following his very dangerous experience, Colbrelli was equipped with an implanted defibrillator to insure against the possible consequences in the event of a recurrence of the arrhythmia.
Quite a few stories about Colbrelli have been published since his cardiac episode, speculating on his ‘recovery.’ Of course, the problem is with the electrical activity within the heart, which I don’t think the journalists covering his status understood. Cardiologists usually leave patients little actual choice with this. You don’t HAVE to agree to the implantation, but they tell you you will very possibly die if it happens again, and they can’t give you encouraging odds that it won’t. No stories about Colbrelli mentioned any recurrence of his cardiac episode, and I know I have not had a recurrence since mine, as the defibrillator has never administered a shock, which they tell me you will unquestionably notice. But he and I still carry the defibrillators in our chests.
Initially, Colbrelli hoped to be able to resume his racing career, despite some obstacles. In Italy (Colbrelli is Italian), Italian law precludes participation in competition if you have an implanted defibrillator. A good percentage of Colbrelli’s races were outside of Italy, so that might not be an automatic deal-breaker, but that was far from the only significant roadblock. So, on Sunday, Sonny Colbrelli officially retired from bicycle racing. His statement and manner demonstrate what a champion he is.
I say goodbye to cycling and try to do it with a smile for the good it gave me, even if it hurts to say goodbye after a season like last year. That was the best of my career.
Colbrelli said Sunday. “I learned what life offers and what life takes. But it also gives back in a different form. I’m ready to keep trying to be a champion, like on the bike.”
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 me in front of. But it’s my life that I want to be grateful for, a life I risked losing and which gave me a second chance. That of being here today, to remember that I came out of the “Hell of the North” as a winner, and I did it in a legendary way, which will remain in history and that I will be able to continue to tell my children. It is to them, my family and all the people closest to me that I owe this new life of mine. From them, I am drawing the strength to accept this moment of my sporting career that sees me here today to give up being able to add to my palmarès a victory in a grand tour or Flanders, a lifelong dream.
Between March and now, Colbrelli entertained hope that he could continue his career. Perhaps the biggest obstacle was his team, and the challenge of training on the roads for the sport he loves. Because so many road miles are ridden far from help, a loss of consciousness episode could be life-threatening. My understanding is that a defibrillator does not guarantee no loss of consciousness with a tachycardia event. What research I have conducted suggests that the risk is low, but it isn’t zero. A loss of consciousness (or even cognitive function) could result in a crash or even riding into an oncoming lane in front of a vehicle. No team would want to have a rider facing such risk, and no rider would really want such risk either, for him or herself and their loved ones. So, his racing career comes to an end.
Mr. Colbrelli, I was not pulling for you in that fateful sprint in Roubaix last year, but I am deeply glad now that you have that victory. It is a great one to have on your record, and you deserve that. I wish you and your family the very best in your life going forward. You retired as the champion you were, and that is a fine honor, indeed.
Here is a video of Colbrelli’s victory last year. You can tell how overcome he was by the magnitude of it, even without a clue about what the future might hold. I hope you enjoy it and hold the good thought for him.