Olympic Games 2024: Peter Sagan returns to action, wants to compete in Paris after second heart surgery

Updated 03/04/2024 at 17:49 GMT

Peter Sagan has announced his return to cycling action after a second bout of heart surgery, as the former triple world champion takes aim at a tilt at this summer's Olympic Games in Paris. The Slovak was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia back in February and his initial return was stunted in March after a first procedure. Now, he has turned his full focus to mountain biking.

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Peter Sagan has returned to cycling action after his second bout of heart surgery, with the former world champion aiming to compete at this year’s Paris Olympics.

Sagan, the Pierre Baguette Cycling rider, was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia - known as anomalous tachycardia - back in February at a race where his heart rate was reported to have reached over 200 beats per minute.

The Slovakian underwent an ablation procedure to correct his irregular heartbeat, with the expectation that he would be back in the saddle within weeks, aiming at a race in Marseille in mid-March as his comeback.

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However, he felt further discomfort while training, and was sent for a second surgery in the week of March 18.

Now, the 34-year-old is coming back for a second time, announcing his return on social media.

"I just wanted to make a little update about me – I'm going to go for the first time on the bicycle after the surgery I had two weeks ago. Let's go," Sagan said, sporting the new-look Specialized Factory Racing kit,” his statement read.

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The post was captioned: "Quick update everybody! It's time to go in the saddle for my first training ride after my surgery a couple of weeks ago.

"Once again, many thanks for all the messages of support I received from all over the world You guys rock!!"

‘Peto’, as Sagan is often referred to as, won the points classification at the 2019 Tour de France, which was a record seventh time.

He has won 12 stages at the Tour spanning 2012 to 2019, and he also topped the points classification of the Giro d’Italia in 2021.

He came out on top in the 2016 Tour of Flanders and the 2018 Paris-Roubaix among others, and he has also won four individual stages at the Vuelta a Espana, in both 2011 and 2015.

Now, Sagan is eyeing up an Olympic tilt, with the mountain bike events taking place in Paris on July 28 and 29.