Kim Kirchen suffered heart problems during Tour Of Switzerland, his fans and team anxious about Tour de France
Kim Kirchen from Luxembourg suffered from heart problems on Friday night due to which he withdrew from the Tour of Switzerland. Apparently it seemed to be a heart attack which caused severe pain, after the seventh stage of the tour. After the race the rider was in his hotel room where he had the pain and was soon shifted to the Zurich University Clinic.
Kirchen, the 31 year old rider, has been admitted into hospital for further checkups while his fans wait anxiously to hear more of him. In the last report disseminated, team director Serge Parsani said that he had problems earlier this spring as well while he was in the Fleche Wallonne. He added that after the seventh stage he felt dizzy and was provided with medical help immediately.
His team Katusha, reported that they are hopeful that he would recover soon however, the exact news regarding his health could be given once the hospital provides them with his complete report.
Kim Kirchen had his first race recorded in Dommeldange in the year 1999 however he was not able to celebrate a professional victory in his career untill the year 2000, when he was victorious at the Piva Col trophy. The young rider, who belongs to the region of race lovers, had been titled the Luxembourgian Sportsman of the Year for six consecutive years starting from 2000. His title winning for that many years broke the record of his fellow cyclist Charly Gaul, putting him at the fourth place in the all-time winners.
Kirchen’s professional career was launched in 2000 when he signed with De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa. Later, in the year 2001 he left his team to join Fassa Bortolo. The year 2006 saw the demise of the team Fassa Bortolo, so he went to join the T-Mobile Team.
In the year 2007, Kirchen finished at the second place in the Tour of Switzerland, also in the following two seasons he was able to win two stages of the Swiss race.
The year 2008 went pretty well for him as he was successful in wearing the Tour de France yellow jersey for a four-day duration, the highest during his entire career. The same year, the lucky man also bagged the Fleche Wallonne victory.
Later, in July of 2008 continuing with his great form he offered some excellent performances during the Tour de France there he ended at the 7th place in the general classification. However, this year’s good luck did not last very long as a vital decline was observed in his form as he had to pull out of the UCI Road World Championships, the following September due to problems that he had to face because of his poor stamina.
After he withdrew from the race he told media that he does not think that he had sufficient form to produce some good results therefore he preferred not to race at all.
Later in the year 2010, Kirchen signed with the Katusha Team , as he could not have settlements with the Team Columbia-HTC to extend their contract, even after extensive negotiations.
Now, after the heart problem he had faced on last Friday he is being kept in an artificial coma in order to have a better evaluation of his medical state. The statement issued on his official website says that he is out of any life danger, the attack had been minor but however the medical treatment is going on.
His fans as well as his team is looking forward to hearing of his recovery soon as the much anticipated event of the year, the Tour De France is around the corner.
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