"I was dead for a little bit" - Nathan van Hooydonck recalls terrifying incident that forced him into early retirement

Much sooner than anyone had hoped, former Team Visma | Lease a Bike star Nathan van Hooydonck was forced into retirement recently. Speaking to Eurosport, the Belgian opened up on the situation.

"I had a heart attack while driving the car with my then-still pregnant wife next to me," van Hooydonck recalls in conversation with commentator, Rob Hatch. "It meant the end of my career and actually I was dead for a little bit. It's hard to say and it's weird to say but that's just how it was."

"So since then, I've been retired. My wife gave birth straight after to a beautiful son so yeah, highs and lows," van Hooydonck laughs wryly. "I just take it day by day. It wasn't easy to start with for sure. I wanted too much too soon and start straight away my second career. I still don't really know, but I've taken two steps back."

Recently, van Hooydonck joined Hatch in the commentary box for Eurosport. "I really enjoyed doing the commentary in London. I also drive guests and sponsors for the team so I can still be at the races but far away enough that it's not too confronting. Again there's ups and downs but that's just how life goes I think."

"I also realised that if I wanted to do something with my second career, I had to do it myself. There's nobody else who's going to do it for me," concludes the 28-year-old. "It's hard at times. It's certainly not easy but I try to do my best and find something that I'd really like to do."