Van Eetvelt shows mental resilience after difficult year: "Those downs do not bother me at all"

When asked about his year, Van Eetvelt opened with a smile. "I actually look back on it with a lot of pride and a good feeling. I have had a lot of ups and downs, but to be honest, the downs don't bother me that much," he says, full of resilience. And that Van Eetvelt had to sit out much of the season because of those injuries. "I still got a lot of great results."

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However, when asked about an "unforgettable moment," Van Eetvelt is still pretty hard on himself. The second place in the fourth Vuelta stage, behind Primoz Roglic, lingers. "I won't forgive myself for that, I guess. It was a nightmare, that second place," he recounted, cheering too early and being passed by the Slovenian on the line.

The biggest surprise, of course, was the UAE Tour. "That I won there, I really didn't expect, so early in the season in that field of contenders. I knew I had made progress in the winter but had not dared to dream this." Then, a problem with the knee followed: Van Eetvelt was out for several months. "I could train but not compete. We didn't know where it came from, and yet the symptoms remained, even after surgery."

And that very fact made the Belgian very nervous: "For a moment, I thought: this will never go away, this was the end of it. When the pain subsided, however, I soon lost that feeling' he describes his resilience. 'For next season, I feel little pressure; I just have to keep going. I know how to train well and prepare for my goals," he concludes, heading into 2025.