Trial by fire awaits Lennert Van Eetvelt who returns after injury-marred years to contest the Giro-Tour double

Lennert Van Eetvelt will enter his already 4th season in professional peloton next week at the Tour Down Under, yet the Belgian has completed only one full season so far, in 2023. The two more recent seasons were tainted by Van Eetvelt's health issues that prevented him from racking up more than 40 race days each year. However in 2026, the Lotto-Intermarché leader has big plans and injuries simply don't have their place in them.

That is because Van Eetvelt and his managers have prepared a Grand Tour double for the 24-year-old! The winner of 2024 UAE Tour and Tour of Guangxi will ride both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2026.

As mentioned, Van Eetvelt will open his 2026 early at Tour Down Under already next Tuesday. His next race will take him to Middle East for a UAE Tour before finally returning to Europe. There, the Belgian will ride the Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico in early March, before heading off to a pre-Giro altitude camp. But before the Corsa Rosa begins, Van Eetvelt will be in action in Ardennes at La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

After an already quite busy spring, Van Eetvelt will then take on the Giro and Tour, pushing his race-day count up to 65 already by the end of July. It's a surprising decison as Van Eetvelt has not yet raced two Grand Tours in the same season. We'll have to wait and see whether the pressure becomes too much for the young climber and causes further health troubles, or whether he's fully healed now and will thrive in this challenging programme.