"I can say that I will lose my best teammate" - Emotional Wout van Aert reacts to 'unfair' news of Van Hooydonck's retirement

Wout van Aert was unable to take victory at the European Championships in the individual time-trial, finishing third behind Joshua Tarling and Stefan Bissegger. Post-race though, the Belgian's thoughts were elsewhere.

Having suffered a cardiac arrest whilst at the wheel of his car and crashing into a number of other cars, van Aert's Jumbo-Visma and Belgium teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck has now been diagnosed with a heart muscle anomaly and given an internal defibrillator (ICD) which sadly means his professional career in the peloton has been brought to a close.

“It was hanging in the balance. I'm especially grateful that he was able to fight through it,” reflected van Aert in his post-race interview on the day Van Hooydonck was allowed to return home. “For him it is a blow that he can no longer practice his passion. I can say that I will lose my best teammate."

The news of Van Hooydonck's crash has understandably hit van Aert hard as he's admitted over the past few days. “I'm having a hard time with it,” he says, fighting the emotion in his voice as he speaks. “He has already had so much pushback, it is really unfair.”