Sonny Colbrelli is set to retire after suffering cardiac arrhythmia earlier this year

Sonny Colbrelli is set to retire after suffering cardiac arrhythmia earlier this year

This story first appeared on VeloNews.com.

Sonny Colbrelli has retired from pro racing, reports Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Italian daily wrote Saturday that former Paris-Roubaix champion Colbrelli called time on a career cut short by a harrowing health scare.

The 32-year-old hasn’t raced since he suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed just moments after he finished the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya this March.

Representatives from Colbrelli’s Bahrain-Victorious team were unable to confirm Gazzetta‘s reports when contacted by VeloNews this weekend.

The Italian was hospitalized after the shocking incident in Sant Feliu de Guíxols this spring. Tests later revealed he’d suffered a cardiac arrhythmia that in turn led to cardiopulmonary arrest.

Colbrelli was fitted with a heart-monitoring subcutaneous defibrillator and has since returned to casual riding.

However, speculation swirled over his pro racing future.

Although the UCI does not have a formal policy on the matter, Italian law prohibits athletes from competing in elite sport if they have been fitted with a defibrillator. Colbrelli was investigating the possibility of racing under the Swiss flag in a bid to bypass his Italian ban.

“I’ll speak with my team about if it’s possible to come back. My dream is to get back to the bike. That’s important for me. It’s not easy, it’s difficult but for sure I’ll try,” Colbrelli had said in May. “I’m super motivated.”

Colbrelli was coming hot off the back of a mid-career tear when he collapsed in Spain.

The Bahrain-Victorious captain won the mud-splattered October 2021 Paris-Roubaix, and before that beat Remco Evenepoel to the European title at the zenith of what was a career-best season.

“This is my most beautiful moment, my dream was to win a Monument,” Colbrelli said after he won the cobblestone trophy. “The first classic of my dreams was Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix was second … and I won Paris-Roubaix.”