"It's really crazy, everything went perfectly this season" - Maxim van Gils ends perfect spring with victory at Eschborn-Frankfurt

Third at Strade Bianche and Flèche Wallone, Top10 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Milano-Sanremo, winner of the Vuelta a Andalucia (time-trial) and now winner of Eschborn-Frankfurt. Maxim van Gils had an immensely successful spring and his last day of racing for a while ended in a surprising victory.

“It is my last race of this period and my spring was already incredible, but to end it with a WorldTour victory is an absolute dream,” the Belgian said in a post-race interview. . “I didn't feel great, but the team made the race very difficult to throw the sprinters overboard. That gave me confidence. I then just had to survive the last steep climb, the Mammolsheim." Although he was among the main favourites, the Lotto Dstny rider couldn't make the difference on the climbs where he would hope a group such as last year's to emerge off the front of the race.

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“I then focused on the sprint and was able to recover in the middle of the group," he says. Jan Christen was the only rider to lead the race after the ascent, but a large group sprint took place then between a group of climbers and classics specialists. From these, van Gils was ultimately the strongest. "During the sprint, a door opened just before the finish. I had enough speed at that moment and was able to finish it.”

He's become Lotto Dstny's new face and will be now recovering and preparing for the Tour de France and Vuelta a España where he will chase more high-quality wins. “It's really crazy, everything went perfectly this season. I ride at a very high level and I enjoy it very much. Today I win a sprint, but I was also good in the Ardennes recently and I won a time trial earlier this year. That's very strange," he concluded.

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Well deserved, @maximvangils! 😍👏 Picture: PhotoNews

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