Vandenabeele showed mental strength after 2023 disaster: "I was like a zombie, I also had symptoms of long COVID'"

Henri Vandenabeele was often mentioned a few years ago alongside the likes of Cian Uijtdebroeks, Lennert Van Eetvelt, and Remco Evenepoel. Peers and all top talents, each possessing the Belgian nationality. While the latter have firmly established themselves, Vandenabeele is still waiting for his definitive breakthrough. This seems to be just a matter of time, as the friendly Fleming has frequently encountered bad luck, injuries, or illnesses in recent seasons. IDLProCycling.com had a chat with him!

We talk with the 23-year-old Vandenabeele during the team and media day of Lotto-Dstny, the Belgian ProTour team that announced in August that the rider from Deinze would return to his old nest. Indeed, Vandenabeele had already ridden for the Lotto-Dstny development team in 2019 and 2020, before representing the colors of the current Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL in the period 2021-2023. And now, the slender climber moves back to his roots. The fact that he already knew many people within CEO Stéphane Heulot's team made the transition less daunting for Vandenabeele. "The good memories from my youth period at Lotto-Dstny partly made me decide to return here. But also the fact that I was struggling with my health last year. I wanted to start something new. I was quite satisfied at DSM-Firmenich, although I think I fit in even better with the new team."

2023 was a crappy year for Vandenabeele, who did hold strong mentally

Vandenabeele mentioned it in his first response: in 2023, he was continuously struggling with health issues. "2023 was quite a crappy year. I caught one virus after another. It started in 2022 with a first coronavirus infection. In 2023, I was basically walking around like a zombie. I seemed to have some symptoms of long COVID. I could barely do anything. As a result, I also slept more than I was active. So, I hardly sat on a bike. It was only in August and September that I slowly started again." In short, a year to forget quickly. He hardly raced. And the races he did participate in often ended with a DNF. "Riding those few races was maybe against better judgment, but sometimes it was also to fill the team selection and thus serve the team. That went okay. I kept trying until mid-June, including training. But after that, I realized that it really couldn't go on, and I completely stopped."

So, his season ended in mid-June, which many could see as a valid reason for the start of a mentally challenging period. However, on this front, Vandenabeele proved to be extremely resilient, as he confides to us. "Mentally, it wasn't too bad. Of course, it's not fun, but I knew that simply some time had to pass. I always saw light at the end of the tunnel. Moreover, I knew quite early on that I was going to make a transfer to Lotto-Dstny. That was around June and so came as a relief." Yet, expectations for 2024 should still be tempered. "In 2024, I mainly hope that my health remains stable. That's the most important thing. I'm certainly not going to pin down concrete and ambitious results. First and foremost, I want to be of service to the team and contribute. If it gets better, I hope to achieve results again someday."

Vandenabeele hopes for Vuelta participation, but tempers expectations

Does the idea of riding a grand tour already haunt the mind of Vandenabeele? "Normally, it would be nice to ride the Vuelta, although it might be too soon," he keeps it a bit uncertain. "So, it's a matter of looking at the development of my form. But if I am somewhat back to my old self by the end of the year, the season will already be a success. I don't necessarily have to be the very best version of myself. Just being able to participate actively in smaller races would be fantastic."

Finally, when we ask Vandenabeele where he sees himself in about five years, he answers cleverly. "My goal is to ride well in the mid and high mountains later, but hopefully also in the short term. I have already shown that I can do it well, so hopefully that will be possible again. Of course, this comes with some healthy tension. I do put a certain amount of pressure on myself. From the team, the pressure is not so high. The doctors sometimes find it a bit of a challenge to get everything back on track with me. But when I moved up from the youth ranks, I had set my mind on focusing on the classifications. I still want to do that, although winning a stage in a round currently seems more realistic. That would already be super nice. But again: that's not something for 2024."