Five professional cyclists saw their careers end prematurely in 2023 due to cardiac issues, including Heinrich Haussler, who currently holds the position of sports director at BORA-hansgrohe.
Cardiac issues could be related to Covid-19
During the Covid-19 phase in 2022, Haussler contracted the virus in the summer. At that time, being a professional cyclist in the peloton and aiming for selection for the World Championships in Australia, his home country, Haussler participated in the Deutschland Tour while still ill and completed the race.
As a result of this decision, cardiac issues persisted in his daily training routine, and he experienced arrhythmias during the World Championship race. Even holding the team car for about two minutes, he demonstrated incredible resilience by driving to the end of the race.
Symptoms emerged in 2020
Previously, Haussler had only experienced cardiac issues once, during training in 2020. However, as the situation did not return to normal after the World Championship in Australia, he took a break from the team doctor. Haussler then wanted to resume riding, but once again, his heart skipped a beat, so he was compelled to rest rigorously by the team doctor. Haussler told the Badische Zeitung newspaper, “I was sitting on the couch at home. After a week, I thought: I need to go for an easy ride. What could happen? That’s when I passed out,” says the former cyclist.
The reasons for Heinrich Haussler’s illness are still unclear, but one thing has become clear to him: “Being sick or finishing a competition with COVID. I am strictly against it!” Based on the experiences that led to the end of his professional career, he strongly recommended to everyone because there is still life after it.