It’s hard to imagine when talking to a beaming Victor Campenaerts in Saitama at the end of the 2024 season that this was a season of intense lows as well as intense highs.
The 33-year-old was ending the year as one of the key riders at the Tour de France showcase criterium in Japan. With a stage win at the French Grand Tour to look back on, his girlfriend and new son by his side as well as the security of a three-year contract with one of the world’s top teams – Visma-Lease a Bike – in hand, Campenaerts has a lot to be happy with. Just months before, however, the rider was far from the current picture of contentment. Then the Lotto-Dstny rider had faced the possibility that his career was crumbling right at the point where he’d put all his chips on the table.
