Maxim Van Gils (24) has beautifully crowned his classic spring campaign: he was the fastest in Eschborn-Frankfurt from a thinned-out peloton and takes his first victory in the WorldTour.
It’s the cherry on top of a fantastic spring. Maxim Van Gils has claimed victory in Eschborn-Frankfurt. Van Gils managed to keep his calm, piloting swiftly from the back to the front of the thinned-out peloton and outpaced Alex Aranburu and Riley Sheehan in the sprint. With this, Maxim Van Gils secures his first-ever WorldTour win.
“Ending my spring with a first WorldTour victory is an absolute dream,” says Van Gils. “My feeling wasn’t super, but the team did everything to make it difficult for the sprinters. That gave me confidence: my only task was to survive until the final steep climb of Mammolshain, stay safely in the wheel and focus on the sprint. Everything just went perfectly. It’s been like this almost the entire season. Today I win in a sprint, and a few days ago I felt great in the Ardennes… and I’ve also won a time trial. It’s crazy.”
That it would end in a sprint was far from certain. The hills around Frankfurt make Eschborn-Frankfurt a tough race. Jan Christen (UAE) tried his luck solo, but the finale of the race is flat, and therefore, the Swiss rider had to surrender to a chasing peloton a little over two kilometers from the finish. Initially, Alex Aranburu led the charge in the sprint, but Maxim Van Gils managed to surprise from the back and thus crowns his exceptional spring with victory, including a TT win in the shortened Vuelta a Andalucía, 3rd places in Strade Bianche and the Flèche Wallonne, a 4th place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and a 7th place in Milan-Sanremo.
01 VAN GILS Maxim Lotto Dstny 04:46:48
02 ARANBURU Alex Movistar Team + 00
03 SHEEHAN Riley Israel-Premier Tech + 00
