The talented stage racer Lennert Van Eetvelt demonstrated his skills in tough one-day races at the Clasica San Sebastián and secured an impressive third place behind winner Marc Hirschi and Julian Alaphilippe. “I’m super happy,” he said in a quick interview.

Van Eetvelt’s season was a mixture of ups and downs. He started the year fantastically with an overall win at the UAE Tour. But his performance soon dropped. Van Eetvelt struggled with a knee injury and had to be out for several months. It’s no surprise that the effects of this injury were quickly discussed in the interview. “The period of injury and recovery was very tough. And today Andreas and Maxim (Kron and Van Gils, editor’s note) said they wanted to ride for me. Having such strong riders working for me gave me a lot of confidence. It’s a shame that I couldn’t follow them (Alaphilippe and Hirschi, editor’s note), but third place in San Sebastian is incredible.”

“That was a really tough race today,” continued Van Eetvelt. “Lying on the beach would have been much more pleasant,” he joked, referring to the location of the Basque city. “The result is amazing though and it’s fantastic to be racing again,” said a satisfied Van Eetvelt. The young rider would normally start at the Vuelta a España in Portugal next week. After his debut last year, this is his second appearance in the grand tour. With his third place in San Sebastián, Van Eetvelt can travel to the Iberian Peninsula full of confidence.