Boom has successful heart surgery

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Lars Boom is recuperating at home following a successful surgery to treat a cardiac arrhythmia on Wednesday. The Dutch rider said in an Instagram post that he will be back on the bike next week.

"Wednesday my cardiac arrhythmia surgery went well and yesterday I came home again after a one night sleepover in the hospital," Boom wrote. "I have wounds in my groin to recover from, and after about one week or longer of rest, the outlook is that I can get back on the bike to resume light training. Our daughters have made beautiful drawings for me. Happy to be back home with them."

Boom, 32, discovered the heart condition toward the end of the 2017 season and sought medical advice. He was scheduled to be competing at the Tour Down Under, but at the LottoNl-Jumbo team presentation, he made the announcement he would have to undergo surgery, which involved doctors running catheters from his groin to his heart to knock out the misbehaving cells.

Several other riders have had the surgery and made succesful comebacks, including Boom's own teammate Robert Gesink and Ramunas Navardauskas.

Other riders such as former cyclo-cross world champion Niels Albert and Johan Vansummeren had to end their careers prematurely due to similar heart issues. Michael Rogers also retired due to a congenital heart defect.

Boom said in December that he hopes his condition is resolved quickly and is looking forward to tackling the Classics season.

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