Maxim Van Gils thanks French girlfriend Mathilde and Remco Evenepoel after four-month recovery and deserved reward

Maxim Van Gils had already spoken about being in top form at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and on Friday he underlined that with a fine victory in Crest-Voland. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe enjoyed a truly perfect day, as Luke Tuckwell— read his reaction here —also managed to take the yellow jersey from Alex Baudin.

Van Gils was part of a huge breakaway of 60 riders, after having already targeted this fifth stage several days earlier. “It was really a crazy day. We had been talking about this day for a while. Two days ago, I lost six minutes in a stage that ended in a bunch sprint,” Van Gils began.

“My Scottish teammate Callum [Thornley] and I had talked about going on the attack on Friday. And in the end, we actually had four riders in the breakaway. Gianni Vermeersch had one of his best days in the mountains; he was super strong,” Van Gils said, praising his Belgian teammate at the German formation.

“It was really a team effort, and it is so nice to win this stage,” Van Gils continued. “It is a beautiful day with the team. We are here without a big leader. This morning, I was asked why we had not come with the big stars. But a stage win and the yellow jersey — that is really amazing.”

“This is one of the most beautiful days of my career,” said Van Gils, who made his return at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes after four months away. “Everyone saw the crash [at Clásica Jaén]. I always stayed positive after that,” explained the Belgian, who broke his pelvis and shoulder in the crash in Spain.

“And now, to win here in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, in the Dauphiné region… It is an area I really love. My girlfriend comes from here,” said Van Gils, whose girlfriend Mathilde is from Grenoble. “We rode over a lot of my training roads. I am really, really happy,” he concluded.

“I think I am in the best shape of my life. I trained for 25 days in the Sierra Nevada with Remco,” he said, referring to teammate Remco Evenepoel. “He is obviously stronger than me, so I suffered a lot. And now I am flying through the race. It is always difficult to win, but to do it with these legs is fantastic.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]