"I long for the moment when I can train fully again" - Lennert Van Eetvelt eyes better days to come after knee surgery

Lennert Van Eetvelt got off to a flying start this season when the young Belgian won the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana and a stage and overall at UAE Tour. However the Lotto Dstny star has now been sidelined for almost two months with a knee injury. Van Eetvelt underwent a successful surgery this week and can finally look forward to better times.

"I was quite tired from the race itself and had a tough travel day to Tenerife. That's where I started training again. Lots of steep climbs and stuff. But the knee started to ache. I thought: 'That will go away soon' and kept training. My focus was on Volta a Catalunya. But it got worse and worse. An overload. So much so that I had to return to Belgium. I kept struggling. Until we decided last week that there was no progress and that an operation was necessary."

22-year-old Van Eetvelt had surgery on his knee last Monday, but what exactly is the problem? "Hoffitis is the correct term. We do not know exactly what caused the irritation. The procedure went well," the climber told Het Nieuwsblad. "Next week I can start cycling quietly with the physiotherapist. It depends on how that joint responds to the first movements and training."

"In the meantime, I have rested at least as much as in the off-season. Add another two weeks to that and that will be the longest period as a professional that I couldn't do much. I long for the moment when I can train fully again in the sun of Tenerife. I have had terrible weeks."