Luxembourg rider Kim Kirchen was released from hospital earlier in the month, following the heart attack that he suffered while at the Tour de Suisse, but is still unsure of what his immediate future holds. Having ridden the previous three Tours de France, the Katusha rider was forced to watch the latest edition on TV, and addressed a press conference in Luxembourg afterwards, according to Tageblatt.
“I feel pretty good, although I always get tired pretty quickly,” Kirchen told the press conference.
Kirchen has consistently been one of the three top riders from Luxembourg in recent years; the other two being Fränk and Andy Schleck. He reflected on what was another successful Tour for the younger of the two brothers.
“Andy was a bit better than last year this time,” he said, “but in the end could do no more. He has done what he could do, and in the next years he can expect to be there again.”
As for Kirchen’s immediate future, the Luxembourg rider is unsure, as he is still awaiting the results of medical tests into the cause of his heart attack. He hopes to return to the sport as soon as possible though.
“I hope that next year I’ll be sitting on my bike,” he said. “Currently the results of the analysis haven’t come out so we still don’t know why it happened. This could take weeks, or even months, it’s unclear what the cause was, so I must wait.”
As well as recovering from his heart attack, Kirchen also has to come to terms with another big change in his life: his wife Caroline giving birth to twins Mika and Liam.
“We have everything under control,” he smiled.