Nathan Van Hooydonck has reflected on the moment his career ended for the first time after doctors discovered a heart muscle anomaly and fitted the Belgian with an internal defibrillator (ICD) to correct potential future cardiac arrhythmia.
The Jumbo-Visma rider came close to death when the heart issue caused him to lose control of his car and crash into five other vehicles at a junction with his pregnant wife, Alicia, also in the car, but after being placed into a medically induced coma at Antwerp Hospital, thankfully survived the incident.
A week on from the accident, Van Hooydonck sadly had to announce his early retirement from cycling due to the ICD being fitted, but the pair soon had the joy of their son Alessio entering the world which the 27-year-old commented on before the Kristallen Fiets, Belgium cycling’s awards night.
"I realise very well that I might never have been able to hold him,” said Van Hooydonck to VTM Nieuws and Het Laatste Nieuws, organisers of the event. “I realise that more and more every day.”
But the Belgian was frank about the horrific week he had in which his time in the sport came to an abrupt end after another brilliant season working for the likes of Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard.
“I don't really remember anything about the accident,” Van Hooydonck said. “I do remember the sadness, because even before the doctors told me, I already knew that my career was over.
“It was a terrible week in the hospital, despite the fact that I received good help from the medical staff and especially my family, who were there every day.”
Thanks to that brilliant work, however, Van Hooydonck is up for the ‘Crystal Sweat Drop’ award which recognises the best domestique from Belgium’s illustrious list of cyclists in the pro peloton, alongside Wout van Aert, Jonas Rickaert, Jasper De Buyst, Louis Vervaeke, Justine Ghekiere and Sanne Cant.
This season, Van Hooydonck played a key role in victories at all of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Gent Wevelgem, the Criterium du Dauphiné, the Tour de France and his final race at the Tour of Britain and will be sorely missed at races by teammates and all across the cycling world.
