Lennert Van Eetvelt suffers considerable time loss at the end of first racing block: "Tomorrow is the rest day and I’m looking forward to that"
Cycling
Lennert Van Eetvelt has lost his place in the top 10 of the general classification in the Vuelta. In the tough mountain stage to Granada, the leader of Lotto Dstny had to drop out of the favorites group early and eventually crossed the finish line almost four minutes after the large favorites group, losing positions in both general and youth classifications.
"I felt at the start that I didn’t have the best legs, I knew it was going to be tough," said Van Eetvelt in an initial reaction shortly after the finish. "I think I wasn’t the only one. I did lose a lot of time, but I fought against myself. I couldn’t do more."
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On the final climb, Van Eetvelt lost contact with the group of favourites, and the gap continued to grow in the descent to Granada with a hard time finding cooperation in his group. "I didn’t feel super good and I had the feeling that I had found my rhythm, but that turned out not to be the case. That’s a shame, because the team did a super good job. But tomorrow is the rest day and I’m looking forward to that," he laughs.
At the very least, there was no crash able to stop Van Eetvelt today. "Woods fell in front of me and I had to avoid him. I didn’t crash myself, but I had to put my foot down and was out of the race for a while, but afterwards it wasn’t a problem," he explains.
The battle for the white jersey is now also somewhat less impotant for Van Eetvelt as he loses quite a lot of ground in the general classification, falling down all the way to 15th overall. "It depends on how the coming weeks go, I hope I can find my form again."
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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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- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
- He just doesn't have the desire anymore. I read an article earlier today that said he almost retired last year. His reasoning was he is away from home to much. Visma was able to keep him riding by allowing him to skip certain camps. So, while currently Visma is doing altitude work...Jonas is at home. Which means 2 things. 1- He maybe fresher than other riders. But, not the condition. 2-Is a somewhat slap in the face to others on the team that are supposed to help him win. Yet feel like he hasn't done what they have so perhaps they don't provide as good of protection or they ride more for theme (which the team may not notice).md197514-11-2026
- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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🇪🇸 #LaVuelta24 @LennertVEetvelt finished 19th today. Here’s what he had to say about his race 🎙️
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