Newlywed Dylan van Baarle shares pictures from rollercoaster month: Hit by car weeks before wedding

"It's been a month since I had an accident, and what a rollercoaster it's been..." van Baarle begins. He was hit by a car during a training session in Tiel and suffered a concussion and a broken wrist. “I feel incredibly blessed and grateful to still be here. And that I have the best people around me I could ever wish for.”

"But I'm even more grateful that I made it to the wedding day and can finally call Pauline my wife," he continues. "It was an incredible day. After everything we've been through, it was even more special than I could ever have imagined."

"I want to thank Soudal Quick-Step for making the surgery go as smoothly and quickly as possible. I’m still recovering and hope to be back on the bike as soon as possible. Thank you for all the messages and support I’ve received—it means a lot to me,” concludes Van Baarle, who also included photos from after the surgery in his post.

Last weekend, van Baarle’s wife, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, also shared a post on social media. “Dylan’s accident three weeks ago during a training ride made me realise that life is about so much more than just cycling. And seeing the person you love most going through such a difficult time put everything into perspective.”

"And for the first time, I was 'happy' to be by his side and do my best to support him as much as possible. "Normally, he's the one who always takes care of me," said the Frenchwoman, who also mentioned that she was feeling a bit down after her disappointing Tour de France Femmes in August.

"I was so focused on winning the Tour again that I had lost sight of the joys of everyday life. It was all about being the best and doing everything I could to be the best. Strangely enough, I’ve gone through some rough patches in my career where I felt sad and lost, but I’ve never experienced a situation where you do everything so well and yet end up with nothing.”

At the same time, the wedding gave me a new lease on life. “It was an absolutely special day. I remember how happy I was when I won the Olympics and the Tour of Roubaix, but this feeling of marrying Dylan, surrounded by the most important people in my life, was on a whole other level of joy, happiness, and fulfillment.”