Peter Sagan to Undergo Second Heart Surgery in Bid to Make 2024 Olympics

Three-time World Champion Peter Sagan shared on Sunday that he experienced abnormal heart rhythms while training in Marseille, Spain. The episode happened just three weeks following his first heart procedure after Sagan’s heartbeat went above 200 bpm during a mountain bike race in Valencia in late February. The first tests revealed occurrences of abnormal tachycardia during intense exercise.

“While I was training on the rocky roads of Marseille, my heart experienced a few jolts. Nothing alarming, but it seems like my heart needs a pit stop,” Sagan wrote on social media. “Nothing to worry about, you could say that my heart needs a pit stop.”

The 34-year-old did not compete in this weekend’s MTB French Cup in France—his Specialized Factory Racing teammate Victor Koretzky of France won the short track event.

After retiring from a fifteen-year road racing career at the end of 2023, Sagan is committed to a last hurrah with an entire mountain biking season, aiming for the summer Olympic Games in Paris.

However, Slovakia, ranking 38th in the UCI MTB Nations Ranking, may already be out of contention to qualify for the cross-country event in the Paris Games. Only countries in the top 19 and the top two finishers in the 2023 UCI World Championships elite and under-23 races can earn entries. The qualification period closes on May 26, 2024.

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