Mario Cipollini reassures everyone from the'hospital

After the latest scare and a new passage to the operating room, Mario Cipollini wanted to reassure everyone with a video posted on social media. The former world champion, one of the most successful sprinters in the history of cycling, underwent heart surgery at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic, by Professor Andrea Natale’s team.

In the video, Cipollini appears serene and visibly relieved, albeit tried by the surgery: “Given the many messages, I thought I would post this video to tell you that everything went well – he said -. The surgery was successful to perfection and I already feel a more regular and light frequency, a feeling I was no longer used to. My heart used to have really annoying extrasystoles, but now it’s much better. I want to thank Professor Andrea Natale: in addition to being a great professional, he is really a great man.”

This is not the first time Cipollini has had to go under the knife for heart problems: already in 2019 and 2020 he had surgery to resolve episodes of atrial fibrillation, while last fall he had a subcutaneous defibrillator installed. Today the new surgery, to correct an arrhythmia and reduce the extrasystoles that tormented him.

A complex clinical picture, however, that Cipollini is facing with determination, constantly updating his fans: the video posted on social collected thousands of comments and messages of support, and Cipollini wanted to thank everyone. “I wanted to update you, given the affection you have shown me,” said the Lion King.

Born in 1967, Mario Cipollini was a professional from 1998 to 2005, winning an impressive 189 races including the 2002 World Road World Championships in Zolder, 42 stages at the Giro d’Italia (a record that still stands), 12 at the Tour de France (plus a team time trial) and 3 at the Vuelta. Among Italians, he is third all-time in the number of victories: only Francesco Moser, with 273 wins, and Beppe Saronni, at 193, are ahead of him.