"The beginning of the end of my career" - Johnny Hoogerland recounts a training accident that changed his life

Johnny Hoogerland had a brief period of glory in 2009, but his promising professional career was promptly interrrupted by two heavy crashes. After the latter, the charismatic Dutchman never really a made a full recovery. It's a story that may have never happened though if Hoogerland didn't get picked up by Vacansoleil a year earlier, at the age of 25 from a small Dutch continental team.

"I realised that it was my last chance to become a full pro, so I was serious about my preparation and it all came together," he tells PezCyling. "A strong year gave him a chance at Vacansoleil. "When someone offers you a contract, you take it! But it was a good fit, yes. Our team manager Hilaire Van Der Schueren gave me a lot of good advice as a young pro. I don't speak to him every day anymore, but I still keep in touch with him."

The fall in the 2011 Tour de France will not be forgotten by anyone. Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha were hit by a car, after which the Dutchman was catapulted into the barbed wire. The fall had a long-lasting impact on his life. "My insurance claim was eventually settled, but it took a long time and a lot of stress to reach an agreement. It was a shame, the insurance company did not want to see it from a human perspective and I never received an apology from anyone."

Two years later, he experienced an even more serious crash. In Benidorm, he was hit by a car during a training session. The result was five broken ribs, a bruised lung and damaged vertebrae. "That was much worse than the crash in the Tour. I still remember the date: February 3, 2013, the beginning of the end of my career. I was in so much pain and spent four days in intensive care and 15 days in hospital. I never had the same fire again, my values ​​were still good but I was always afraid of falling."

The year before, Hoogerland experienced his last revival, with the national championship in Kerkrade. He achieved his most beautiful victory of his career there. "The National Championships was on a difficult and technical course but I felt no stress at all. After I won, I thought: 'This is it, I'm back!' But I rode the Tour and Vuelta afterwards and that was nothing special at all." After that Hoogerland still did few more seasons at a PRT level, before ultimately hanging up his bike in 2016.