"I'm from Belgium, I'm used to some cold and rain" - Maxim van Gils unbothered by horrific conditions at La Fleche Wallonne

Bitterly cold and wet, La Fleche Wallonne 2024 won't soon be forgotten by those who raced it. Maxim van Gils coped better than most, finishing third, but even he was left shivering uncontrollably on the podium afterwards, not that he was unduly bothered.

The following day, the Lotto Dstny star is finally warm and thankfully, he doesn't think it will effect his performance next Sunday at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. "Maybe that will be more difficult for the guys who stopped earlier. But we kept riding," he notes in a video call, with quotes collected by HLN. "We were a bit warmer. Okay, I was cold. Ice cold. But it was still okay. It wasn't that I was freezing to death."

Post-race, van Gils went through a gruelling routine of his own to get properly warm. "After a hot shower, I also went to the sauna and hot tub in the evening to warm up a bit. This morning I didn't feel anything anymore during the course reconnaissance in Liège," he explains. "Credits to the team. They kept insisting that it would rain. That's why we had already sent a teammate with our raincoat during the race. I put it over my stomach. And as soon as we saw the clouds, before it started to rain, We put on our coats. This way we stayed dry for another hour. That was a big advantage over the rest. Plus: I'm from Belgium, I'm used to some cold and rain."

Clearly in good form, confidence is high with Liege-Bastogne-Liege approaching. "Winning will be difficult, in such a big race. But we will go for it. I expect it will open up early, like last year and therefore, the domestiques will be gone quickly," van Gils previews. "That could be a moment for me or Andreas Kron to move along in a group and thus avoid the real explosion on La Redoute."