{"id":426248,"date":"2026-01-22T17:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/426248\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:07:10","slug":"i-can-only-do-what-my-body-allows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/426248\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI can only do what my body allows\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Bennett<\/a> has opened up about a cardiac issue that will keep him out of competition for the foreseeable future. The veteran Irish sprinter, who moved to Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling for the 2026 season after leaving Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, had hoped to hit the ground running with his new team. But health concerns have forced him to delay his season start.It has been a strange and frustrating period for Bennett. Training didn\u2019t feel right, and toward the end of last year he just couldn\u2019t put together the kind of performances he expected. \u201cAt the end of the year I didn\u2019t feel great, and I didn\u2019t understand what was happening,\u201d he told <\/p>\n

the Irish Independent<\/a>. \u201cI started training <\/a>but had weird sensations for the first three days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, one night in bed he experienced noticeable heart palpitations and discomfort in his chest. His heart rate spiked without explanation. It was only after checking his Whoop fitness band\u2019s heart-rate monitoring \u2014 which indicated irregular rhythms \u2014 that he sought medical help. \u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t want to bother anyone,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cI waited until I knew the doctors would be awake, and then I called.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors confirmed the irregular rhythms were due to a cardiac issue, forcing him to postpone his season. Bennett admitted that he\u2019d had strange feelings in previous years, with a significant drop in circulation \u2014 a possible explanation for some unexplained fatigue during sprints. \u201cWhen I sprinted, I had to sit back down quickly,\u201d he said, and now sees those past sensations in a new context.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"sam<\/p>\n

Bennett transferred from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale this winter.<\/p>\n

When will Bennett return? ‘Can only do what my body allows’<\/p>\n

Bennett is understandably disappointed. \u201cI wanted to start this season at a high level, and it felt like I was letting the team down,\u201d he said. But he stressed that everyone around him \u2014 especially at Pinarello-Q36.5 \u2014 has been extremely supportive, and there\u2019s no pressure to hurry back. \u201cMy health comes first. We\u2019re taking it step by step and seeing how the body reacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sprinter also explained why he chose to go public with his situation: it\u2019s better to be transparent than leave fans wondering where he is and why he isn\u2019t racing. \u201cPeople will ask: \u2018Where\u2019s Sam Bennett<\/a>? Why isn\u2019t he racing? What\u2019s going on?\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe I can also give some insight and help someone else with their health.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of now, there\u2019s nothing concrete on Bennett\u2019s calendar. He\u2019s given himself until the end of March to try to be ready without rushing his recovery, but emphasised that he\u2019ll only take part in racing when his body is truly prepared. Pinarello-Q36.5 has confirmed that he has already resumed training.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Bennett has opened up about a cardiac issue that will keep him out of competition for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,28430,82],"class_list":["post-426248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sam-bennett","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}