2025 has not started smoothly for Jenno Berckmoes. After his team training camp in Denia, Spain, in early January, he had planned to spend three weeks at altitude in Tenerife to prepare for the spring classics. However, he was forced to cut that training camp short after just seven days. “I quickly felt that something was off,” he says. “One day I felt fine, the next I didn’t. I had headaches, got tired extremely quickly, and felt lightheaded. I wasn’t seriously ill, but it was like my battery was constantly drained.”
It took some time to identify the cause. “I even descended to sleep at a lower altitude, but nothing really helped. Eventually, we found significantly high inflammation levels in my blood and a bacterium in my body—possibly from food poisoning, though we may never know for sure. In any case, I’m now on antibiotics.”
As a result, Jenno Berckmoes is forced to postpone his season start. His bike stayed untouched for a week, and he only resumed training four days ago. “I was originally set to race Classic Var and Alpes-Maritimes this weekend, followed by the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to kick off the classics season. That plan is now off the table. First, I need to rebuild and make up for the training deficit. However, my first training sessions have been reassuring—I’m making progress. I hope to return for Strade Bianche and be as close to top form as possible by Milan-Sanremo.”
Picture: Brecht Steenhouwer
