No end to his bad luck: Instead of celebrating his 37th birthday, Visma rider Kruijswijk is in the hospital with a broken hip

June 7, 2024: This is the day Steven Kruijswijk should have been celebrating his 37th birthday with a solid climbing performance at Collet d'Allevard, but instead, he wakes up in a French hospital or hotel with a massive hangover—not from a party or champagne from the night before, but from yet another unfortunate crash on the asphalt. Misfortune, bad luck, call it what you will.

The Dutch rider, residing in Monaco, hit the ground, along with the rest of the peloton during the stage to Saint-Priest, a suburb of Lyon. While the other 90% calmly got back on their bikes and continued to the finish after a quick check, Kruijswijk, along with teammate and partner-in-crime Dylan van Baarle, was left behind. Again.

It is actually the fifth consecutive year that Kruijswijk has structured his season around that oh-so-important month in France, but also the fifth year that bad luck has struck him in that same month. It began in 2020, when the peloton was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic and could only come out of their shells in August and September. For Kruijswijk, that started with an impressive fourth place in the Tour de l'Ain won by teammate Primoz Roglic, after which he hoped to fine-tune his form in the Dauphiné.

After a fifth place (2018) and third place (2019) in the world's biggest race, Jumbo-Visma went to the Tour with the goal of winning with Roglic and/or Kruijswijk. However, in the fourth stage of that year's Dauphiné, he crashed at high speed due to gravel on the road in a descent and dislocated his shoulder, including a fracture. Shortly after, the Tour was out of the question.

The focus then shifted to the Giro d'Italia, which was uniquely held in the autumn that year. The race he lost in 2016 due to a snow wall, but four years later, it didn't bring much luck either: a positive COVID-19 test led to an abrupt withdrawal, making 2020 a year to forget. 2021 was another season where everything was set for the Tour, but a crash on day three—requiring stitches in his hand—caused discomfort. Illness in the third week eventually forced Kruijswijk to abandon.

Meanwhile, Kruijswijk's role within Jumbo-Visma also changed, correlating with the team's status. As a culture carrier, the man from Nuenen was assigned a very important role, but above all, Jonas Vingegaard and Roglic counted on him. Inside and outside the race, as a powerhouse and a man who always had the team's best interests at heart.

Thus, in 2022, he was also pushed forward as a key rider for the Tour de France, where the team aimed to win with the two leaders. Kruijswijk had a good year, played a crucial role in the historic stage to Col du Granon, and proved to be one of the world's most important domestiques.

However, in the sweltering 15th stage towards Carcassonne, things went wrong again. In a brief moment of inattention, Kruijswijk suddenly crashed, who immediately recognized the severity of the situation and stayed down on the hot asphalt in the French oven. This did not turn out to be unfounded, as he sustained severe injuries to his collarbone and shoulder blade from the fall. He was ingloriously taken away in an ambulance, only to be there a week later—in a sling—in Paris.

This immediately marked the end of the season for Kruijswijk, who was determined to be present at the 2023 Tour de France. This required the usual preparation: a high-altitude camp, the Critérium du Dauphiné, and a new training camp in thin air. However, on June 5, 2023, just two days before his 36th birthday, disaster struck again in the second stage of the Dauphiné: a severe crash, resulting in a broken collarbone and a nasty pelvic fracture. "I can't describe how disappointed I am..." he later said on social media.

In the fall, the Dutch rider still completed a number of races, an achievement given his injuries, all with one goal: to be ready for 2024, preferably the Tour de France. It seemed he was on track, but once again the cursed Critérium du Dauphiné proved too much for the third time.

On the way to Saint-Priest, Kruijswijk had to leave the race in a lateral position in an ambulance, and at the hospital, it was determined that he had suffered a hip fracture. Again, a big fat red cross over his participation in the Tour de France, a big fat red cross over all he had sacrificed in recent months to be ready in July, and instead: another dose of recovery.

One would wish a man a happier 37th birthday... hang in there, Steven.