Nathan van Hooydonck wonders cause of heart problems - "Maybe I trained too hard? I've always asked a lot of myself"

Nathan van Hooydonck has had to retire from pro cycling after discovering heart issues in recent months. He suffered a heart attack, but was luckily saved after the car accident he suffered and lived on to soon after witness the birth of his child. He wonders what has led to the sudden change in his health status.

“My right ventricle is too big. This caused a cardiac arrhythmia. In December there was nothing to see during a check, but it has deteriorated quickly," van Hooydonck reveals in an interview with NOS. The Dutchman says that he had a heart test months before the incident and nothing was shown. Hence he believes that throughout the year he developed problems. "Maybe I trained too hard? I've always asked a lot of myself, but I don't think that's the reason.”

On the 12th of September the former Jumbo-Visma rider suffered a heart attack whilst driving his car and had an accident subsequently. He was resuscitated on scene and luckily managed to move on from the situation and is currently living a very different life. He's thankful for it, and he now also puts the topic on the table of whether he was a victim of a different type of racing that takes place in modern times.

“The finals are opened earlier. While we used to ride two hours on the limit, it is now three hours. In sometimes grueling circumstances, that is not healthy," he argues. Similar cases to his have been happening far too often in recent years, the most notable of which Sonny Colbrelli last spring who retired whilst being the reigning European Champion and Paris-Roubaix winner. "It's hard to say whether it has anything to do with that. It is striking that there are more cases now that the way of racing has changed.”