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."
Read also
🚨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
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
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parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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