No end in sight for Lennert van Eetvelt's nightmare - Belgian hit by a car as he recovers from 3-month long injury

Lennert van Eetvelt began his year on a high, winning Trofeo Serra Tramuntana and then the queen stage and overall classification at the UAE Tour. A dream start, followed by a nightmare. He hasn't raced for almost three months, and has now gotten hit by a car as he trained for a return to the peloton.

"My first 7-hour ride since my knee issues was almost done, and then I got hit from behind by a car that “was trying to pass me” on a descent," van Eetvelt said in an Instagram post. "I’m really happy I didn’t go off the road and can walk away without serious injuries. When my knee issues first started, I was disappointed not to start in Catalunya. The last few weeks, I was happy to be able to ride my bike a bit. Now I’m just happy to be alive."

In March, after finishing Strade Bianche, the Lotto Dstny rider contracted a knee injury. One month later he needed to have a surgery on the same knee which had been overloaded. His spring had effectively ended but he then had his eyes on the summer. The 22-year old hasn't raced since Strade Bianche but was putting in serious hours on the bike, eyeing a return now in June. It's unclear if this will happen now, after he was hit by a vehicle during a training ride.

"It’s funny how fast these things can change. Today there should have been a post about how my recovery was going, about how much support I got in the last few months and what that meant to me, and about how I was looking forward to seeing my teammates again and starting a race as soon as possible," he continued. "Now I will just take a few days off to recover and enjoy the little things in life. But don’t worry, I will come back. The answer to when is just something that I still don’t know."