Patrick Bevin of the CCC team will miss next week's Tour Down Under after suffering an irregular heartbeat during training in Adelaide.

The New Zealander was admitted to Calvary Wakefield Hospital in Adelaide for immediate treatment. According to the team, he has made a full recovery and is expected to start the racing season in the near future. [CCC team chief medical officer Dr. Max Testa said in a press release, "Patrick has no history of heart disease. However, an EKG scan detected a supraventricular arrhythmia. Fortunately, this is not life-threatening and is a common symptom, but required immediate medical attention to correct the heart rhythm."

"Thankfully, Patrick experienced this episode while with the team and was able to treat the arrhythmia immediately," Testa continued. We will continue to monitor his recovery and will run further tests just to be sure. However, with less than a week to go until the race, Patrick will not be able to compete in the Santos Tour Down Under. Patrick is confident that he will be able to return to New Zealand and resume his racing program shortly."

Bevin led last year's Tour Down Under with a stage win, but crashed on the final stage and was unable to defend his lead despite starting the final stage the next day. Instead, the title went to Mitchelton-Scott's Darryl Impey, who won the stage race for the second year in a row.

"It's a shame to miss the race after preparing for it all off-season and especially after coming so close to winning it last year," Bevin said. I was looking forward to coming back and having the same success again." But it is definitely better to be safe than sorry.

"I'm all better now and it's just a matter of rest and recovery. I have some solid off-season training left in my legs, so I'm confident I can start the season strong, even if I'm a month behind schedule," Bevin said.

The team reports that Guillaume van Kersbulck will fly in from Europe to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under in Bevin's place.

"Obviously, this is an unexpected program change. I have competed in the Santos Tour Down Under once before in 2016 and really enjoyed the race and the atmosphere."

CCC teams competing in the 2020 Tour Down Under: Josef Cerny, Simon Geschke, Joey Roskov, Simon Sajinok, Guillaume Van Kersburg, Francisco Ventoso, and Ukasz Wisinowski