UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt was fortunate to keep away from severe harm after being hit by a driver whereas out coaching in Tenerife this week.
The Belgian has been working his approach again to health having been sidelined since early March with a knee subject, lacking the Volta a Catalunya within the course of.
On Thursday, he was finishing his first lengthy endurance coaching journey since struggling knee issues earlier this spring. However, his seven-hour journey and the remainder of his coaching camp have been now majorly disrupted by a driver who hit him on a descent late in his journey.
Van Eetvelt took to Instagram to elucidate what occurred, displaying a nasty minimize to his chin, a video of the aftermath of the incident, and the injury triggered to his bike.
“My first 7-hour journey since my knee points was virtually achieved, after which I acquired hit from behind by a automobile that ‘was making an attempt to move me’ on a descent,” Van Eetvelt wrote. “I’m actually glad I did not go off the street and might stroll away with out severe accidents.”
Van Eetvelt, who turned professional with Lotto-Dstny final season, had loved a really sturdy begin to 2024, profitable the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana on the season-opening Challenge Mallorca.
He then went on to attain an enormous general win on the UAE Tour, taking the win on the ultimate stage at Jebel Hafeet to beat Ben O’Connor to the victory by two seconds.
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eleventh place at Strade Bianche marked his closing race of the spring earlier than knee points hit, with overuse the probably explanation for his troubles.
“When my knee points first began, I used to be disillusioned to not begin in Catalunya,” Van Eetvelt continued. “The previous couple of weeks, I used to be glad to have the ability to journey my bike a bit. Now, I’m simply glad to be alive. It’s humorous how briskly this stuff can change.”
Van Eetvelt mentioned he’ll take a couple of days off the bike “to get better and benefit from the little issues in life”, grateful that he averted any severe fractures – or worse.
“Today, there ought to have been a publish about how my restoration was going, about how a lot help I acquired in the previous few months and what that meant to me, and about how I used to be wanting ahead to seeing my teammates once more and beginning a race as quickly as doable.
“Now, I’ll simply take a couple of days off to get better and benefit from the little issues in life. But don’t be concerned, I’ll come again. The reply to when is simply one thing that I nonetheless do not know.”