'I had heart flutters, palpitations and an uneasy sensation in my chest' – Sam Bennett back training after heart scare and surgery

Sam Bennett has resumed training after suffering a heart scare late last year, which turned out to be atrial fibrillation.

The Irish sprinter, who signed for Pinarello Q36.5 for 2026, had an ablation procedure to treat it, and is now back on the bike.

Speaking to the Irish Independent this week, Bennett explained that he had "heart flutters, palpitations and an uneasy sensation", which was inexplicable.

"To be honest, I didn’t want to annoy anybody. I kind of waited until I knew the doctors would be awake and I rang them then," the 35-year-old said. "Towards the end of last year, I wasn’t going great and I couldn’t understand what was happening. I started back training and I had some weird sensations for the first three days.

"I was thinking, 'Whoa, I’m really unfit here!' That night, I was in bed and started getting heart flutters, palpitations and an uneasy sensation in my chest. I could feel my heart rate rising and the fact that I didn’t know what was happening didn’t help.

"I rang the team doctors at Pinarello Q36.5 and the medical team were absolutely amazing. I think it happened on November 14 and the next day I was straight into a top specialist."

Bennett, who has won stages at all three Grand Tours, was operated on mid-November, before he endured a prescribed period of rest, before a measured return to the bike.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac issue in midlife cyclists. It is caused by disordered electrical signals generated within the heart’s upper-chambers (atria), and most often presents as an abnormally high reading on your heart monitor, with a consequent 30% immediate drop in power.

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"After the ablation and completing all necessary medical checks the athlete was cleared to progressively resume training," Dr Lorenz Emmert, the team's doctor, said in a statement. "The return to activity has been structured, gradual, and closely monitored at every stage, fully in line with medical protocols."

"Seeing Sam back in training is the most important and positive sign," Pinarello Q36.5 manager, Doug Ryder, added. "He approached the process with patience and professionalism, and the team supported him at every step. We remain fully behind him, first as a person, and then as a rider."

"Health comes first," Bennett said. "They’ve [the team have] been amazing. We’re just going to take it step by step, see how things develop. I’ve had a lot of time off now. We have to see how the body reacts to the stimulus we give it.

"I was on blood thinners for eight weeks. I couldn’t risk crashing, but I’m up and running, I’m back on the road. There’s nothing really planned, but I don’t want to be too relaxed about it. I’m setting myself the end of March to be ready so that I don’t take my foot off the gas, but I can only do what the body lets me do."

Bennett spent two years at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale before signing for his new team. He won nine races in that time, but none at WorldTour level, where he had established himself as one of the best sprinters in the world previously.

"In the past few years, I have had lots of these weird sensations," he told the Irish Independent. "They said it could be possible that I was having mini-episodes that blocked me from going harder in the sprints. What happened with me was that the top two chambers were beating twice as fast as the bottom two.

"I was getting 30 or 40% less flow, so when I went into sprints, I’d go to sprint and I’d have to sit down, which kind of matches up, but I won’t know if it was that until I start racing again."

As for this season, Bennett said: "My first target is to hit a high enough level to be competing again. If I’m doing that, then, for sure, I’d love to ride one [a Grand Tour] again. But I don’t want to waste people’s time anymore. I’ve been given a lifeline with this team. It’s all or nothing this year and I’m all in."