He lost almost a year of his career but after a lengthy lay off, heart surgery, and a period of self-doubt and worry, Ramunas Navardauskas is back on the bike and ready to make up for lost time.
The Bahrain-Merida rider was just a few months into his first year with the team when in April 2017 he began to notice an irregular heart-rate. After a brief period of rest he returned but, when the problem recurred at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June, he was sent to a specialist who diagnosed him with a cardiac arrhythmia. Complete rest was prescribed, with heart surgery following later in the year.
Now, over six months on from the worrying diagnosis, the Lithuanian is back in the bunch and set to compete in the Tour Down Under, which starts Tuesday. In fact, he made his first competitive return to racing on Sunday in the 50.6km People's Choice Classic and, although he made few shockwaves in the race, he was more than happy to make it through unscathed.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It feels like I lost a year of my career. I couldn't train, I couldn't go on the rollers or do anything, and it meant that I lost my form and my power," he tells Cyclingnews the morning after his first race since last June.
"When I first realised what was wrong, I was scared and my head went down but after one or two months, when I found out that the problem could be fixed, I calmed down but I was super nervous coming back last night in the crit. I was afraid that I'd be at the back and barely able to hold the wheel. I was ready for that but, in the end, it wasn't that difficult. If you want to be at the front it's a different story but staying in the bunch wasn't so bad."
It was at the Tour of Croatia last May when Navardauskas first began to notice that something was wrong. His heart-rate had become erratic and he pulled out of the race after just a few stages as a precaution.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2EKfwsP
No comments:
Post a Comment