Lennert van Eetvelt abandons Vuelta a Espana with breathing problems

23-year old Lennert van Eetvelt is having an incredible roller-coaster season in 2024 which continues to this day. The Lotto Dstny rider has abandoned the Vuelta a España this morning after falling ill and struggling with breathing over the previous stage of the race.

"Lennert van Eetvelt will not be starting in the Vuelta today. He is experiencing significant discomfort in his lungs and will undergo further medical examination in Belgium. We wish him a speedy recovery," the Belgian team wrote in a social media post.

The Belgian started off his season very strongly with a win at the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana, and then impressed to win the queen stage and overall classification at the UAE Tour. A knee injury then kept him out of competition throughout three months in the spring but he bounced back to show his best form once again.

The youngster rode to a second place in the first summit finish of the Vuelta at Pico Villuercas, matching Primoz Roglic in the steep climb and then only missing out on the win due to an early celebration. Van Eetvelt had tried to stay in GC contention, On stage 9 to Granada he fell out of the Top10 but during stage 11 he struggled very badly with breathing and lost a lot of time. The team has decided to pull him out of the race this morning to prevent further damage for their brightest talent.