MTN-Qhubeka's Adrien Niyonshuti thought he would travel to Europe to help his team in international races, but now it seems he will be sidelined for much of the season due to deep vein thrombosis.

The Rwandan champion found himself with some swelling in his right calf and was diagnosed with DVT, a clot in a vein in the leg. He was also told he had a pulmonary embolism, a clot in the lungs.

The treatment involves taking blood thinners, and that's bad news for the Rwandan rider, as it means he is not allowed to take part in any races and is out for an indefinite period.

“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. Team MTN-Qhubeka’s medical network will continue to investigate possible intrinsic causes of Adrien’s illness and monitor his recovery while striving to facilitate his return to high level cycling", Dr. Jon Patrios, the MTN-Qhubeka physician, said.

Team principal Doug Ryder was happy that the rider now knows about his problems, because this kind of things can be dangerous.

"He is very lucky as we got him hospitalised the day before he was expected to leave to Italy which could have been fatal," Doug Ryder told Cyclingnews.

Niyonshuti was seen to be a key rider for the team's European season.

campaign. His story of surviving the gen "We are not sure about a replacement for him as we still do have 20 riders but we will see over the next few weeks," Ryder said. "With the weather being so bad we have some riders getting sick which is scary but we will try and push through."

Niyonshuti will now head home to Rwanda where he will work with his cycling academy.