He has had a fine professional career that has included stage wins at the Vuelta A Espana and Paris Nice. However, at 31 years of age he is forced into early retirement because of problems arising from his heart.
One of the sport’s fastest men, Gianni Meersman, has been forced into retirement because of a heart condition, his team have confirmed.
The multiple Grand Tour stage winner from Belgium was due to ride for Fortuneo-VitalConcept for the coming season but that will now not be the case.
Previously of Etixx-QuickStep and a teammate of Ireland’s Dan Martin, his ‘new’ team announced the news yesterday.
“During a routine medical check-up, a cardiac arrhythmia and scar tissue were found in the 31-year-old Belgian rider,” the Fortuneo-VitalConcept team explained.
“Additional tests then confirmed that they would pose a serious danger to his health if he continued to exercise his sport at a high level, which forced him to make a difficult and dramatic decision to stop his career immediately.”
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Unfortunately, a heart problem forces @GianniMeersman to stop his career. Thank you Gianni for the great memories and all the best in life! pic.twitter.com/bzcjZaRj5e
— Quick-Step Cycling (@quickstepteam) December 30, 2016
Understandably, the rider himself was distraught at having learnt of the news.
“I had additional tests and scans, but they confirmed that this health risk would remain if I continued to ride high-level cycling, so the specialists advised me to end my active career,” Meersman said.
“Compared to my wife and daughter, who put everything aside during my career, I cannot and will not take such a risk. Cycling was not only my profession but also my passion, and so it was with great pain that I made this decision.”
Meersman had a really strong 2016 and won stages two and five of the Vuelta, a race he finished four times.
He also won the Cadel Evans Ocean Race and is a former stage winner of Paris Nice and a Points Classification winner of the Criterium du Dauphine.
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