Now riding his second edition at the Tour de France, the sport's biggest race has not been kind to Lennert Van Eetvelt.
The talented Lotto-Intermarché rider made his debut at the Tour last year but was forced to abandon after stage 14, a back injury not only ending his race but his season, as he struggled to recover. Now, in 2026 he has made it to the same point in the race, but is riding with a broken rib after a crash on stage 10, won by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
A talented climber, it had all started so well for the 25 year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Friday. Though the team finished well down in the opening day team time trial, he managed 11th place on the first road stage between Tarragona and Barcelona, then sixth the following day to Les Angles.
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He's also been up the road in two breakaways, including Saturday's stage 14 to Le Markstein, another stage won by Pogačar, when he was part of the initial 38-man group. A feat on its own when suffering with a rib injury.
Now, however, the Tour is all about survival for Van Eetvelt, with his Lotto-Intermarché squad already down two riders with the departure of Arnaud De Lie and Jenno Berckmoes.
"There are moments when I feel better, but generally speaking, the Tour is hard enough when you’re completely healthy. For me, it’s just about reaching Paris now," Van Eetvelt told reporters at the stage 14 finish reported Wielerflits.
"I feel better on the bike than at night. I get stabbing pains, especially when I go all-out and have to take deep breaths. Yesterday, I cursed a lot because we were riding so fast. We averaged around 55 km/h for the first two hours.
"The fact that I can still keep up shows I’m doing okay, but I’m not at 100%, and you need to be in the Tour."
Van Eetvelt, is rumoured to be on the move away from his Belgian squad at the end of the season, and should be putting in his best performances at this part of the Tour, if it weren't for his injury.
A winner of the UAE Tour in 2024 after winning the Jebel Hafeet stage, he is best in the mountains, though it seems as though he will need to wait until next year to taste success at the Tour, though provided he starts Sunday's stage 15, at least he has survived longer than last season.
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