“I was having panic attacks, crying for hours. I was scared, even of myself” — Lotto talent celebrates World Mental Health Day with honest admission
Cycling
Robin Orins should have been living the dream. In 2024, the young Belgian lit up the U23 ranks with a breakout season that promised a bright future at the top level. But while his peers celebrated, the lights quietly went out on his world.
Now, after months of silence, therapy, and rediscovering what it means to feel joy again, the 23-year-old is back in the peloton and ready to speak — not about watts, victories or ambitions, but about something far more important: mental health. As shared in a post on Lotto's official website, this World Mental Health Day.
The darkness behind the breakthrough
At the end of 2023, the promising youngster signed his first professional contract with Lotto Cycling Team. He had just won the U23 edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, taken a national time trial title, and impressed at the Worlds in Zurich. It looked like the launchpad to a glittering pro career.
But that autumn, everything stopped. “Physically and mentally, I was completely empty,” Orins wrote in a blog post at the time. “While others were celebrating their off-season, I was having panic attacks and crying for hours, trying to find myself again. I was scared, even of myself.”
The fear was paralysing. Instead of gearing up for his debut spring as a pro, he disappeared from racing — and from public view. For months, no results, no training snaps, no interviews. Just silence.
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Step by step, a way back
Eventually, the Belgian sought help. Psychologists and a psychiatrist became part of his daily reality. Medication, too. “Suddenly everything hit me ten times harder,” he recalls. “But once I had one positive experience, I realized I could still feel something good.”
The road back was slow — and fragile. A short jog felt monumental. The first time he got back on the bike, it felt alien. “I felt like a stranger in the world,” he says. “But it became familiar again. I learned to live with my fears.”
By the end of July, he lined up at Tour de Wallonie, and this weekend he will take the start at Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the season. For many riders, it’s just another race. For Orins, it’s proof he’s still here.
“I know I’m not alone”
October 10 is World Mental Health Day — a date that Orins has deliberately chosen to speak publicly. He hopes his story resonates beyond cycling. “I was in my final year as a U23 rider; it was the year of ‘having to’,” he explains. “That pressure came from myself, not from others. I wanted to turn pro, so in my head, I had to live for it obsessively. I don’t think I’m the only one with that story.”
“Today, I know that talking about it helps. And I hope that anyone going through a tough time can see, through my story, that they’re not alone.”
For a sport that often demands stoicism, Orins’ honesty is a quiet act of courage. His story is a reminder that even those who appear to be living their dream can face invisible battles — and that coming back from them is its own kind of victory.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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