Moreno Hofland can breathe a sigh of relief. The Dutchman has undergone surgery on his nose in Den Haag to enlargen the passages and cavities. "Everything's all right now," Hofland tells BN / De Stem.

Because LottoNL-Jumbo sprinter had been bothered by a cold for longer than usual, he searched for an explanation. "I was often ill," he says about the sprint. "It is normal that you will catch a cold during this period or may have a stuffy nose. After five days you are usually recovered. The bad thing was that it was always twice as long to me. Thus, I also missed more races than necessary last year. The whole spring was more or less ruined.”

After examination at the hospital, Hofland was diagnosed very narrow passages in his nose and cavities, preventing bacteria to disappear quickly "First the passages were 0.2 millimeters. After the operation it has been more than doubled,” he says. "I notice now that I'm getting more air." After a holiday, the LottoNL-Jumbo rider started his build-up to the new season yesterday when he joined his teammates for a three-day team building. During the off-season, he has also overcome his back problems.