Nils Eekhoff won't remember 2025 for being a great season, but it's also a year from which the 27-year-old can draw a lot of optimism into the future. The Picnic PostNL rider's season had many ups and downs, from his biggest victory to the day, through multiple injuries, to a strong final push at the end of the year, the most important take away from 2025 for Eekhoff is the mental strength to battle through all incoveniences and the ability to always return to his best.
Eekhoff didn't start the season well with a painful crash in his first race, the AlUla Tour, where he broke his jaw and lost a few teeth. All the more impressive was his comeback a month and a half later at the Danilith Nokere Koerse. Because Eekhoff immediately won! And his only other professional victory dates back to 2023 when Eekhoff won a stage of the ZLM Tour, this one will easily rank on top of the Dutchman's palmares.
But that fall in Saudi Arabia wouldn't be the end to Eekhoff struggles as another setback came less than two weeks after his big triumph, at the Volta a Catalunya. There he suffered a calf injury that saw him sidelined for over a month.
"It was incredibly painful. That calf injury was much more severe and frustrating than my crash in the AlUla Tour. Back then, I was able to work and train at home with great focus. When you return to Nokere Koerse at such a good level, you feel like: 'Okay, now we're going to push on.' But when you're held back like that (by the torn calf muscle, ed.), that's incredibly frustrating."
And even though his body eventually recovered on its own, the right feeling would not come for Eekhoff for a long time. In fact, it took until the end of September for the all-rounder to find the spark again.
"It took a long time to really get that good feeling again after that torn muscle," the Picnic PostNL rider explains in WielerFlits podcast. "It was inexplicable to me. I worked hard, but I just couldn't get back into the swing of things. I felt good, but it just didn't show in the races. I could deliver a top performance, but after that, I was completely out of sorts. That got stuck in my head."
After talks with team manager Pim Ligthart, Eekhoff resigned himself to the situation. He had no control over it. "I stopped worrying about it. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen. If not, then it wasn't. I kept training just to stay active. At some point, it got a bit easier, until I finally managed to avoid hitting the door. That was during the training after the Super 8 Classic. But you always need a result to get into a positive flow or calm."
Eekhoff certainly won't let this discourage him heading into 2026. "I'm always raced to get the best out of myself. I also really want to win for myself, for the team. And I don't think I'm achieving that often enough. But hey, it's something I always strive for and am willing to fight for."
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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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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