"In recent years I have often been inexplicably ill" - Oliver Naesen reveals celery was to blame for his lackluster 2023 season
Cycling
Oliver Naesen, who was seemingly on a decline, resurged at the Tour of Flanders this spring, taking a step up along with the whole Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale formation. But in the end it turned out that something else was behind Naesen's struggle.
"In recent years I have often been inexplicably ill," Naesen begins his story at HLN. "It sounds stupid, but it's the truth: one day I was perfectly healthy, and the next day I was deathly ill. Nauseous, vomiting, not being able to get out of bed."
"At first I wasn't really sick. I was mostly tired and couldn't get through it. Time and time again the response was: it must be the flu and then I would be given antibiotics. But it kept getting worse: last year I was sick forty times. Sometimes several times a week. Really crazy. At one point I wondered if I was having a burnout? People asked me if I was depressed. Of course not, I was just tired. But it continued. I worried: was it over with me? Was my body spent?"
The cause had to be found somewhere else, in something very innocent: celery. "My blood has been drawn countless times, but nothing has ever been found. The breakthrough came when I reacted very strongly to celeriac one day. My throat closed. Dorien happened to not be at home. I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance."
Problem solved, although that is certainly easier said than done. "Celery is in f*cking everything. On Sunday after Roubaix we ate fries. I looked it up: the only 'meat' I could order in the chip shop was a Bicky Burger, everything else contains celery. So that's what I learned this week."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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