Red Bull - BORA fume as Maxim van Gils hospitalised after car drives onto course at Etoile de Besseges: “In this race, there are cars everywhere... It’s dangerous"
Cycling
Maxim van Gils move from Lotto to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe was one of the most highly discussed and controversial of the recent off-season as the Belgian broke his contract to sign with the all-star Red Bull side. Van Gils hasn't enjoyed the best of starts to life in his new team either, abandoning the 2025 Etoile de Besseges following a crash.
The incident came after the peloton were forced into evasive action as a car nearly met them in a head on collision inside the final 20km. “The boys clipped wheels, and then we had to change bikes with Jordi Meeus, and then with Maxim. Then the guys told me that there was actually a car on the race course driving towards the peloton," Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's sports director Heinrich Haussler explains to Daniel Benson. "Then the whole peloton brakes, and the boys were just coming back from the mechanical, and they were at the back of the peloton, and it was like a domino effect. They just rode into the peloton, and Maxim crashed into the ditch.”
“He seems okay, but he has a lot of pain, of course. H is going to go and get a check-up to make sure that everything is okay. It’s the impact from the ditch that he has on the side. It’s just to double-check,” the Australian added. “In this race, there are cars everywhere, parked on the side of the road, and traffic. It’s dangerous. I’ll ask the other directors what went on cos sometimes, in the heat of the moment, guys overreact or something. He’s going with the doctor now to get checked up."
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🚨Maxim Van Gils taken to hospital following Bességes crash caused by a car on the course (No paywall)
— Dnlbenson (@dnlbenson) February 6, 2025
Belgium out of the race on his Red Bull debut but luckily escapes major injuryhttps://t.co/9ATeHqQgKK
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- Funny that they shorten women’s races but have no qualms about letting U23 do the same distances.Jumpyjohn23-03-2025
- Why is that relevant when discussing speed?Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- But he wasn’t the only one ;-)Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Obviously the questions are more important to some here than to them or the team so I suggest looking for answers instead of asking questions between ourselves. We’ll probably get them unless someone actually goes to ask the protagonists themselves. Here are some starters : They like riding together; they have their own rivalry that helps bring out the best in both; they might get more points helping each other compared to racing separate races. In any case, unless we hear MJ complaining about it, I don’t think it’s going to change, it’s the Sepp Kuss syndrome all over again, fans lobbying against the will of the rider.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Mine goes to MVDP for entertaining us all year round :-) Stellar race, Ganna impressive in his own way as many predicted after some oddly lacklustre times.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- i remember when not too long ago mathieu was regarded as a real tactical knucklehead. i’m not sure that was ever quite accurate, but it’s certainly the case that over the years he has become a real master tactician. in the biggest races, van der poel rarely makes choices that don’t fully optimize every specific advantage he has.OCexile23-03-2025
- Whatever the result, I believe the strategy by UAE to launch Pogacar was absolutely the right one. Unfortunately, they just were not able to execute it the way they must have planned, being all over the place at the start of the Cipressa.Cooldude23-03-2025
- They are without doubt not just the best two classics riders of this generation, but amongst the best of all time. MvdP is more suited to MSR and PR (which Pog has yet to race), while Pog is now almost untouchable at LBL and Lombardia. RVV is the only one where both basically have an equal chance to win.Cooldude23-03-2025
- bravissima!
maria2024202423-03-2025 - According to Tadej's Strava upload, he went up the Cipressa at an average speed of 37.6kph. Rocket ship! He did the 5.63km verified 'Cipressa' Strava segment in 8:59 minutes, which has a 4.3% average grade and total elevation gain of 229m. Naturally, he got the Strava KOM.Pogboom23-03-2025