"I've made a lot of progress over the winter" - Maxim van Gils secures podium finish at Strade Bianche 2024

After taking victory at the much-shortened Vuelta a Andalucia recently, Maxim van Gils continued his impressive start to 2024 at Strade Bianche, completing the podium behind Tadej Pogacar and Toms Skujins.

"It's a super nice feeling. I've made a lot of progress over the winter and the shape is nice so it's nice that I can do this," reflects the 24-year-old Belgian of Lotto Dstny in his post-race interview with Cycling Pro Net, upbeat despite being edged out in the sprint for second by Skujins.

The top step on the podium however, was completely out of the question for anyone not named Tadej Pogacar. Attacking with over 80km still to go, the Slovenian took a dominant victory by nearly three minutes from Skujins and van Gils. "I thought he would attack later," admits van Gils. "But when he increased the distance on the group, you could see he was flying today."

"When he went, I tried to close the gap because I believed if I did close it I could stay in the wheel. But he was just going too fast so I sat up and went back to the big group," van Gils recalls. "There it was a little bit tactical but thankfully I had Lennert Van Eetvelt there to answer a lot of the attacks."

When van Gils eventually broke free it was alongside Skujins and the pair worked together all the way to the final few pedal strokes. "I felt really nice on the gravel today, I had good legs," he concludes. "The hills are quite short and the distance suited me well."