.jpg) Van Hooydonck in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Nathan Van Hooydonck |
| Born | (1995-10-12)October 12, 1995 (age 29) Gooreind,Wuustwezel, Belgium |
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Rouleur Classics specialist |
| Amateur team | |
| 2015–2017 | BMC Development Team |
| Professional teams | |
| 2014 | Bissell Development Team |
| 2017–2020 | BMC Racing Team[1] |
| 2021–2023 | Team Jumbo–Visma[2] |
Nathan Van Hooydonck (born 12 October 1995) is a retired Belgianroad racing cyclist who competed for teams includingBissell Development Team,BMC Racing Team andTeam Jumbo–Visma between 2014 and 2023.[3][4] He rode in support of the race winner in both theVuelta a España andTour de France.
Van Hooydonck joinedBissell Development Team in 2014 aged eighteen. Bissel, managed byAxel Merckx, was registered as a professional team riding atUCI Continental level and Van Hooydonck rode in a mix of pro and junior events.[5] FutureGiro d'Italia championTao Geoghegan Hart was a teammate.
He joinedBMC Racing Team feeder squadBMC Development Team in 2015. Although the team was registered as an amateur team, it also accepted invitations to compete in professional events. Van Hooydonck was promoted to the fullBMC Racing Team in 2017 and spent four years with the senior squad. In August 2019, he was named in the startlist for his firstGrand Tour race, the2019 Vuelta a España.[6]
In 2021, he signed forTeam Jumbo–Visma and entered his secondVuelta in his first year with the team. He rode in support ofPrimož Roglič, who won the race. He was named to the team for the2022 Tour de France and ended up playing an important role. Between Roglič,Jonas Vingegaard andWout van Aert fighting for stage wins, jerseys and the Tour de France itself, Van Hooydonck was one of the keydomestiques for the team. He left the race two stages before the end for personal reasons with race leader Vingegaard holding on to take the overall win.[7]
Van Hooydonck took one individual victory in a professional race, winning stage four at the 2016Ronde de l'Oise on theUCI Europe Tour. He was part of the team time trial victory forTeam Jumbo–Visma on stage three of2023 Paris–Nice, and finished second to teammateTiesj Benoot atKuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in the same year.[8]
He was the 2015Belgian National Under-23 Road Race Champion and had a best finish of fifth in the senior race, achieved in 2017. He was awarded theCrystal Drop of Sweat in 2023, an annual prize given to the bestdomestique or supporting rider from Belgium.[9]
On 12 September 2023, Van Hooydonck suffered a medical issue while driving and was involved in a traffic accident. His pregnant wife was a passenger in the car but was uninjured. Jonas Vingegaard won the stage of theVuelta a España that was held that day and dedicated the win to his teammate. On 20 September, it was announced that animplantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) had been fitted due to an irregularity of the cardiac wall, which if left untreated would put him at risk ofarrhythmia. This brought his professional cycling career to an end at the age of twenty-seven.[10]
Van Hooydonck remained withVisma–Lease a Bike after retiring from cycling, initially as a driver in the hospitality team before moving into a commercial role.[11] He combines this with media work and provides commentary and in-studio punditry duringTNT Sports coverage of major races.[12]
He is the son of former professional cyclistGino and the nephew of two-timeTour of Flanders winnerEdwig Van Hooydonck.
Road race
Young rider classification
Young rider classification| Grand Tour | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — |
 Tour de France | — | — | — | DNF | 93 |
 Vuelta a España | 114 | — | 82 | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
