Niyonshuti likely to return to racing in early 2014

RWANDA’S top professional cyclist Adrien Niyonshuti who rides for South African team MTN Qhubeka is nearing end of anticoagulant treatment and is expected to start training outdoors in November. Six months after he was forced to take a complete break from racing due to a problem with deep vein thrombosis, Niyonshuti is making a steady recovery from the career threatening illness. According to team MTN Qhubeka, the Rwandan rider is moving towards the next step in his recovery. He is training well indoors and if things continue according to plan, he will return to competition at the start of 2014. “In the last few months, I’ve done some hard training. I’ve been averaging around 47 hours a month between riding on the indoor trainer and running,” Niyonshuti said this week. “I’ve dealt with it and now I am very motivated to come back to my best, but because of the medication I am unable to cycle outdoors until later this year. I’ve been doing indoor sessions which our team coaches have set up. Besides the bike, I have been running on the road a few times a week,” he noted. In just over two month’s time, he will be able to step things up, “According to recent meetings with the doctor, it looks like I will be able to return to the road in November.” He says he will be training throughout November and December and join his team, “when we have the training camp. If all goes according to plan, as it seems it is, I will compete with the team when the season starts in 2014.” The problem arose for the MTN Qhubeka rider after he took a flight from Rwanda in mid January. He experienced swelling in his right calf; when assessed by doctors, they discovered that he had suffered deep vein thrombosis (DVT) complicated by pulmonary emboli. Due to the dangers of the situation, Niyonshuti was immediately hospitalized and given essential treatment. After his release, he was put on blood thinners and told to rest. MTN-Qhubeka team doctor Jon Patrios said at the time that the circumstances were serious and that the rider’s safety was of primary importance. “In a situation like this the immediate and long-term health of the athlete takes absolute precedence over the disappointment associated with the team losing one of our high profile riders,” he said. Half a year later, the team’s director of health and performance Dr. Carol Austin explained the cause and treatment of the issue. “Symptoms of the DVT occurred after an international flight, and his doctors believe that prolonged inactivity exacerbated by mild dehydration was the likely cause,” she stated. Niyonshuti expects to complete anticoagulant [blood thinning] treatment in November. He will then transition to training outdoors and return to professional road racing for the 2014 season. At 26, he represented Rwanda at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the Mountain Bike race hence becoming the first black to do it. He has a contract with MTN Qhubeka until the end of next season.