"The news hit Jonas particularly hard" - Emotional Vingegaard was deeply affected by news of Van Hooydonck says Jumbo-Visma's Frans Maassen

Nathan Van Hooydonck has been sadly forced to call an early end to his career as a professional bike rider after suffering a cardiac arrest behind the wheel of a car and subsequently being fitted with an ICD. The Belgian's Jumbo-Visma teammates were all greatly affected by this news but none more so than Jonas Vingegaard.

"My dear friend and bodyguard. Even though I’m gonna miss having you by my side in the bunch, I’m most of all happy you can continue your life together with your wife and baby," wrote the two-time back-to-back Tour de France winner in a post on his official Instagram account. "Thank you for all the great memories we have together."

Now, Jumbo-Visma sports director Frans Maassen has spoken out about the close personal bon shared by Vingegaard and Van Hooydonck and how the Dane was deeply affected by news of the crash whilst he was at the Vuelta a Espana.

"They are very good friends. During the Vuelta a España, the news hit Jonas particularly hard. Of course it affected the whole team, but Jonas was the one who was most affected by it," he explains in conversation with Ekstra Bladet. "Nathan was very important to Jonas. He is the best person to guide Jonas. He does that excellently. Jonas trusts him in everything. All he has to do is follow Nathan and then he knows he is where he needs to be. They're good together."