Nathan Van Hooydonck
.jpg) Van Hooydonck in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Nathan Van Hooydonck |
| Born | October 12, 1995 Gooreind, Wuustwezel, Belgium |
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Rouleur Classics specialist |
| Amateur team | |
| 2015–2017 | BMC Development Team |
| Professional teams | |
| 2014 | Bissell Development Team |
| 2017–2020 | BMC Racing Team[1] |
| 2021–2023 | Team Jumbo–Visma[2] |
Nathan Van Hooydonck (born 12 October 1995) is a retired Belgian road racing cyclist who competed for teams including Bissell Development Team, BMC Racing Team and Team Jumbo–Visma between 2014 and 2023.[3][4] He rode in support of the race winner in both the Vuelta a España and Tour de France.
Career
[edit]Van Hooydonck joined Bissell Development Team in 2014 aged eighteen. Bissel, managed by Axel Merckx, was registered as a professional team riding at UCI Continental level and Van Hooydonck rode in a mix of pro and junior events.[5] Future Giro d'Italia champion Tao Geoghegan Hart was a teammate.
He joined BMC Racing Team feeder squad BMC Development Team in 2015. Although the team was registered as an amateur team, it also accepted invitations to compete in professional events. Van Hooydonck was promoted to the full BMC Racing Team in 2017 and spent four years with the senior squad. In August 2019, he was named in the startlist for his first Grand Tour race, the 2019 Vuelta a España.[6]
In 2021, he signed for Team Jumbo–Visma and entered his second Vuelta in his first year with the team. He rode in support of Primož Roglič, who won the race. He was named to the team for the 2022 Tour de France and ended up playing an important role. Between Roglič, Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert fighting for stage wins, jerseys and the Tour de France itself, Van Hooydonck was one of the key domestiques for the team. He left the race two stages before the end for personal reasons with race leader Vingegaard holding on to take the overall win.[7]
Major results
[edit]Van Hooydonck took one individual victory in a professional race, winning stage four at the 2016 Ronde de l'Oise on the UCI Europe Tour. He was part of the team time trial victory for Team Jumbo–Visma on stage three of 2023 Paris–Nice, and finished second to teammate Tiesj Benoot at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in the same year.[8]
Retirement
[edit]On 12 September 2023, Van Hooydonck suffered a medical issue while driving and was involved in a traffic accident. His pregnant wife was a passenger in the car but was uninjured. Jonas Vingegaard won the stage of the Vuelta a España that was held that day and dedicated the win to his teammate. On 20 September, it was announced that an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) had been fitted due to an irregularity of the cardiac wall, which if left untreated would put him at risk of arrhythmia. This brought his professional cycling career to an end at the age of twenty-seven.[9]
Van Hooydonck remained with Visma–Lease a Bike after retiring from cycling, initially as a driver in the hospitality team before moving into a commercial role.[10] He combines this with media work and provides commentary and in-studio punditry during TNT Sports coverage of major races.[11]
Personal life
[edit]He is the son of former professional cyclist Gino and the nephew of two-time Tour of Flanders winner Edwig Van Hooydonck.
Major results
[edit]- 2012
- 2nd Road race, National Junior Road Championships
- 3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen Juniores
- 4th Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten
- 6th Time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships
- 2013
- 1st Overall Keizer der Juniores
- 2nd Time trial, National Junior Road Championships
- 2nd Paris–Roubaix Juniors
- 3rd La Philippe Gilbert
- 3rd Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten
- 4th Overall GP Général Patton
- 4th Ronde van Vlaanderen Juniores
- 7th Overall Course de la Paix Juniors
- 2015
- National Under-23 Road Championships
- 1st
Road race - 2nd Time trial
- 1st
- 3rd Overall Olympia's Tour
- 1st
Young rider classification
- 1st
- 8th Paris–Tours Espoirs
- 2016
- 2nd Kernen Omloop Echt-Susteren
- 3rd Overall Ronde de l'Oise
- 1st
Young rider classification - 1st Stage 4
- 1st
- 3rd Chrono Champenois
- 4th Overall Tour de Berlin
- 1st Stage 1 (TTT)
- 4th Circuit de Wallonie
- 5th Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
- 5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Beloften
- 6th Internationale Wielertrofee Jong Maar Moedig
- 9th Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux
- 2017
- 5th Road race, National Road Championships
- 5th Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
- 2018
- 4th Overall Dubai Tour
- 2021
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
- 2023
- 1st Stage 3 (TTT) Paris–Nice
- 2nd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
[edit]| Grand Tour | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia
|
— | — | — | — | — |
 Tour de France
|
— | — | — | DNF | 93 |
 Vuelta a España
|
114 | — | 82 | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References
[edit]- ^ "Valter completes CCC Team's 2020 roster". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Van Hooydonck signs for Jumbo-Visma". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- ^ Hansen, Matt (20 September 2023). "Nathan Van Hooydonck forced to end cycling career due to heart problem". Canadian Cycling Magazine. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ "Jumbo-Visma". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ Outside Online - Axel's Army: A Pathway to the Pro Peloton
- ^ "2019: 74th La Vuelta ciclista a España". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- ^ McGrath, Andy (23 July 2022). "Nathan Van Hooydonck abandons Tour de France before stage 20 due to 'family circumstances': Jumbo-Visma domestique's departure leaves team of race leader Jonas Vingegaard down to five riders". Velo News by Outside Magazine. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ ProCyclingStats - Nathan Van Hooydonck
- ^ "Nathan Van Hooydonck: Jumbo-Visma rider retires because of heart problem". BBC.com. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ Team Visma | Lease a Bike - Nathan van Hooydonck looks forward to new role
- ^ Cycling Up To Date - Nathan van Hooydonck recalls terrifying incident that forced him into early retirement
External links
[edit]
- Nathan Van Hooydonck at UCI
- Nathan Van Hooydonck at Cycling Archives (archived)
- Nathan Van Hooydonck at ProCyclingStats
- Nathan Van Hooydonck at Cycling Quotient
- Nathan Van Hooydonck at CycleBase
