How is Van Eetvelt doing after his nasty crash? Lotto rider sighs: "I'm glad I'm still in the Tour"

With about 100 kilometers to go, Van Eetvelt hit the ground hard. “I don't remember it very well,” the injured rider told Sporza before the start of the third stage. “I was told that my teammate Jarrad Drizners' chain came off; he hit his frame and pushed the rider next to him over. I tumbled over him, and that was at high speed. It happened very quickly. Six seconds before I came to a standstill, I was still riding at 80 kilometers per hour.”

The footage was not pretty: Van Eetvelt lay on the side of the road in pain, and it took him a while to get up. “But all in all, it's not too bad. It could have been much worse. The first 10 kilometers after the crash, I felt pretty okay, but then I started to feel everything. I'm glad I made it to the finish yesterday and that I'm still in the Tour.” In the end, the winner of the 2024 UAE Tour was able to rejoin the peloton, albeit after a considerable chase.

The rest of the day was a survival ride. The 23-year-old climber eventually finished 145th, 8 minutes behind winner Mathieu van der Poel. This immediately ends the Belgian's ambitions in the GC after what had already been a difficult preparation for the Tour. "I knew something could happen in the first week of the Tour, but I can switch gears pretty quickly. The Tour is not over yet," Van Eetvelt remains positive.

Nevertheless, it is a significant blow for Lotto. The Belgian team came to the Tour de France with three leaders. Arnaud De Lie was supposed to be in the sprints, while Jenno Berckmoes was given the chance to prove himself in the more difficult stages. Van Eetvelt was chosen as the protected rider in the (high) mountains, but his crash means that Stéphane Heulot's team will have to change course slightly. In any case, De Lie will have another chance on Monday.