Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo-Visma) has been forced to retire early from cycling due to heart problems after being fitted with an internal defibrillator (ICD) following his serious car accident on September 12.
The ICD is there to correct potential future cardiac arrhythmia as, after extensive testing, Van Hooydonck was found to have a heart muscle anomaly that caused him to lose control of his car last Tuesday and nearly took his life.
“I realise that I was incredibly lucky,” Van Hooydonck said in a statement released by the team. “Things may have gone differently if I hadn't gotten good help so quickly.
“I'm fine now, but I still have to deal with the fact that this marks the end of my professional career.”
There was positive news as the just 27-year-old Belgian has been allowed to return home from the University Hospital of Antwerp, and the team stated that he is “doing well under the circumstances”.
The Belgian was rushed to hospital in a reported life-threatening condition and later placed in an induced coma after falling ill while driving and crashing his car into other vehicles in Kalmthout, north of Antwerp, with his pregnant wife in the passenger seat.
His wife was thankfully fine following the incident despite being also rushed to hospital, and his Jumbo-Visma teammates were later informed that he was “awake and pretty OK” after stage 16 of the Vuelta a España.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the people who helped me, the medical team at the hospital and all the fans who sent me messages,” continued Van Hooydonck. “I will now focus on my recovery and my upcoming fatherhood. Everything is going well with Alicia and the pregnancy, and we eagerly anticipate the birth. That really helps me now.”
Wout Van Aert spoke emotionally after the end of his teammate's career after finishing third at the European Championships ITT.
"It's very sad news," said a choked-up Van Aert. "Although 'sad' comes second. It's good that Nathan is still here.
"It was hanging by a thread this week. We are very grateful that he was able to fight through it, but it is a huge blow for him that he can no longer pursue his passion."
Van Aert and Van Hooydonck shared a largely similar schedule throughout 2023 with 32 race days together, and the former even described the latter as one of his closest friends.
"I can say that I will lose my best teammate. I'm having a hard time with it," said Van Aert. "He has already had so many setbacks, it is really unfair."
Van Hooydonck joined Jumbo-Visma in 2021 and has been one of their most important domestiques for the past three seasons during both the Classics and the last two Tours de France.
Sonny Colbrelli was also forced to retire early from the sport when he was fitted with an ICD following his collapse at the Volta a Catalunya in 2022.
