"I feel like an eighteen-year-old in his first race": Taco van der Hoorn comes back from yet another setback

There's no doubt that a healthy Taco van der Hoorn is one of the most exciting riders in the peloton... but unfortunately a healthy Taco van der Hoorn has become something of an endangered species over the last three years with two long-term problems stopping the Dutchman's breakaway adventures for periods that extend up to an entire year in the first case.

Back in 2023, Van der Hoorn appeared to be on top of his game when he suffered a heavy fall at Tour of Flanders, causing a concussion whose effects continued to haunt the 32-year-old for whole 16 months. Things appeared to have returned to their former state last year when Van der Hoorn top-20'd the Paris-Roubaix, but since then another ailment appeared - an annoying knee injury.

The prepatellar friction syndrome is not an usual injury among cyclists, but it was still enough to postpone Van der Hoorn's 2026 debut until mid-May at the Rund um Köln.

"I feel like an eighteen-year-old in his first race," he admitted in an interview. "It's nice to still have that feeling after ten seasons as a professional. I can't wait to get back into the racing bubble. Staying in the hotel with the other riders and staff, laughing together at the dinner table, traveling together on the team bus… I've missed it. I feel a bit of that excitement again, like an eighteen-year-old in his first races. It has a certain effect on me. It's a good sign that I still feel it even in my tenth season as a professional."

Thus ends a "difficult period" that began even before the season began, with an operation in February, following an initial period of uncertainty, with a "weary uncertainty" that affected the winter. Then the operation at least gave Van der Hoorn some time and a sense of purpose, "something to hold on to," thus preventing him from falling back into the melancholy and uncertainty of three years ago when no recovery schedule was in front of the Dutchman with an unpredictable nature of concussions.

"A few years ago, when I was sidelined for a long time with a concussion, it was much more uncertain exactly when I would be able to return," he recalls.

He still had to skip the goals he'd set for himself, namely the spring classics, up to Paris-Roubaix, and the Corsa Rosa:

"All of that has vanished, and it's disappointing. I followed the big races, but I also tried to distance myself a bit. I didn't want to constantly be confronted with all that. At the same time, it was nice to have time for the people I care about."

So now it's time to get back into racing, a feeling he knows well: "I've come back from far behind in the past. So, I won my second race after coming back. That probably won't happen this time, because the preparation was much shorter. But I can't wait to race again, to be useful to the team and help the guys."