Lennert Van Eetvelt set to miss Vuelta after Tour de France crash

Lennert Van Eetvelt’s season continues to unravel, as the 24-year-old Belgian has now been ruled out of the Vuelta a España 2025. According to Het Nieuwsblad, the Lotto rider won’t make the start line in a few weeks’ time, following a string of injuries and setbacks that have defined his year. The Vuelta had been a major target for Van Eetvelt after crashes and a lack of form derailed his Tour de France campaign.

Van Eetvelt withdrew from the Tour on stage 15, having struggled through the opening two weeks. His best result came in the stage 13 time trial up to Peyragudes, where he placed just 47th. “I don't remember it very well,” he told Sporza following a high-speed crash early in the Tour. “I was told that my teammate Jarrad Drizners' chain came off; he hit his frame and pushed the rider next to him over. I tumbled over him, and that was at high speed. It happened very quickly. Six seconds before I came to a standstill, I was still riding at 80 kilometers per hour.”

Despite managing to finish the next stage, Van Eetvelt admitted the pain quickly caught up with him. “The first 10 kilometers after the crash, I felt pretty okay, but then I started to feel everything. I'm glad I made it to the finish yesterday and that I'm still in the Tour.” That optimism faded over the next few stages, and he ultimately went home with a back contusion that made it impossible to ride at full capacity.

The Vuelta was meant to be a chance at redemption for Van Eetvelt, but that door is now closed. Earlier in the season, he also suffered a broken foot just one week before the Tour of Flanders and didn’t finish the Belgian Road Race Championships in Binche. To date, he has not won a race this year.