Maxim van Gils doubts Fleche Wallonne hopes after crashing out of Amstel: “But maybe a miracle will happen"

Ordinarily, Maxim van Gils would be at the startline of La Fleche Wallonne amongst the contenders for the win. After all, the Belgian finished on the podium there in 2024 whilst riding for Lotto. This year though, Van Gils himself is playing down his chances, thanks mostly to a nasty crash he suffered last time out at the Amstel Gold Race.

As his somewhat difficult start to life at the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe (consistent illness and injury and made it a stop-start 2025 so far ed.) team continued, Van Gils crashed out of the 2025 Amstel Gold Race last Sunday. Although from the outside, the initial damage may have looked minor, the incident left the Belgian in a lot of pain. “At first, I thought I’d broken something," he admitted honestly in a recent conversation with Belgian broadcaster Sporza. "My tailbone hurt so much."

Whilst thankfully a broken tailbone wasn't the diagnosis, Van Gils doesn't head to La Fleche Wallonne anywhere near 100%, still feeling the after effects the crash and plagued by a nagging back pain. As such, he as mentioned, is not sounding confident in his hopes of taking the win. “But maybe a miracle will happen overnight," the 25-year-old concludes with a smile.