IRISH CYCLIST SAM Bennett has revealed he has undergone a heart procedure.
In an interview today with RTÉ Radio One programme Inside Sport, Bennett, 35, revealed he discovered he had been suffering from atrial fibrillation, a condition which occurs when a person’s heart beats irregularly, which can lead to stroke or heart failure.
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Bennett said he was not feeling well upon return from the off-season, suffering from palpitations. Using his Whoop fitness monitor, he was able to test his heart’s rate and rhythm, which revealed him to be in atrial fibrillation, known as AFib for short. He subsequently underwent a procedure known as an ablation to address the issue.
“I have to say around the team, they were absolutely amazing, got me straight into specialists in London the next morning”, Bennett told RTÉ. “I spoke to three different specialists, we decided to go with one in Frankfurt, Germany. Four days or five days later, I had the ablation, which was a success.”
Following a recuperation process further delayed by a bout of flu over new year, Bennett has returned to training ahead of the 2026 season with his new team, Q36.5. He has meanwhile returned home to Ireland, and he and his family are now based in Cork.
“A lot of people are having AFib and ablations and for younger cyclists or people in general public”, said Bennett. “There’s a fear of the unknown when it happens, but I wanted to share it just so that they can understand it.
“They might understand what’s happening with their body and they don’t have to be afraid. Once you go after it and treat it, you can recover fully and get back to like, as an athlete, to a top level again. And for a normal person, you can have a long, normal life.
“If people can afford it, if they can have a smartwatch, like a Garmin or some other device that has ECG, they can catch it in the moment because a lot of the time they might feel something, they’re not sure and then they go to a specialist and they kind of describe it and they don’t know what’s happening.
“ECGs mightn’t be the most accurate thing, but they’re enough for a specialist to see it and to see what’s happening and to really go from there.”
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Irish cyclist Sam Bennett reveals he has undergone heart procedure
IRISH CYCLIST SAM Bennett has revealed he has undergone a heart procedure.
In an interview today with RTÉ Radio One programme Inside Sport, Bennett, 35, revealed he discovered he had been suffering from atrial fibrillation, a condition which occurs when a person’s heart beats irregularly, which can lead to stroke or heart failure.
Bennett said he was not feeling well upon return from the off-season, suffering from palpitations. Using his Whoop fitness monitor, he was able to test his heart’s rate and rhythm, which revealed him to be in atrial fibrillation, known as AFib for short. He subsequently underwent a procedure known as an ablation to address the issue.
“I have to say around the team, they were absolutely amazing, got me straight into specialists in London the next morning”, Bennett told RTÉ. “I spoke to three different specialists, we decided to go with one in Frankfurt, Germany. Four days or five days later, I had the ablation, which was a success.”
Following a recuperation process further delayed by a bout of flu over new year, Bennett has returned to training ahead of the 2026 season with his new team, Q36.5. He has meanwhile returned home to Ireland, and he and his family are now based in Cork.
“A lot of people are having AFib and ablations and for younger cyclists or people in general public”, said Bennett. “There’s a fear of the unknown when it happens, but I wanted to share it just so that they can understand it.
“They might understand what’s happening with their body and they don’t have to be afraid. Once you go after it and treat it, you can recover fully and get back to like, as an athlete, to a top level again. And for a normal person, you can have a long, normal life.
“If people can afford it, if they can have a smartwatch, like a Garmin or some other device that has ECG, they can catch it in the moment because a lot of the time they might feel something, they’re not sure and then they go to a specialist and they kind of describe it and they don’t know what’s happening.
“ECGs mightn’t be the most accurate thing, but they’re enough for a specialist to see it and to see what’s happening and to really go from there.”
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Cycling Road To Recovery Sam Bennett