The winner in Maxim Van Gils has woken up: “He belongs to the world top”

#winner #Maxim #Van #Gils #woken #belongs #world #top

After placings of honor in the Strade Bianche (3rd), Milan-San Remo (7th), the Flèche Wallonne (3rd) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (4th), Maxim Van Gils was able to win for the first time on WorldTour yesterday in the Eschborn-Frankfurt. celebrate level. Kurt Van de Wouwer, the sporting director of Lotto-Dstny, is not surprised. “We knew this was in it, but it is striking how consistent he has become.”

He seemed to become the king of the places of honor, but in the Eschborn-Frankfurt he could Maxim Van Gils finally won his very first victory at WorldTour level.

“Based on his results last year, we knew that Maxim was capable of this,” sporting director Kurt Van de Wouwer told Sporza. “But what is striking is that he almost never has a bad day. He is very consistent.”

This is also evident from his results from 2024. If we ignore the 2 days in the Tour of Catalonia – he gave up with knee pain – Van Gils only finished outside the top 7 once in the other 11 racing days (20th in the Amstel).

“Maxim has been with our team for 7 years and we have seen him become more and more professional, and more and more serious. In his first year he was not yet super professional, which meant that there was still a lot of room for progression.”

Van de Wouwer now thinks that Van Gils has gradually reached his full potential at the age of 24. “If you look at the Strade of Liège, for example, you see that there was actually only one rider better: Tadej Pogacar. If you are already among the world’s top, it is difficult to take big steps.”

If you look at the Strade of Liège, you will see that there was actually only one rider better than Maxim: Tadej Pogacar.

Kurt Van de Wouwer (sporting director Lotto-Dstny)

Van Gils proved several times to be an excellent climber. The logical next question is: can he do it in the big rounds? “I think Maxim is more of a rider for one-day work, although he must also be able to ride a classification in stage races of one week.”

“Lennert Van Eetvelt (who won the UAE Tour earlier this season, ed.) should be able to ride a classification in those big tours. In that respect they complement each other perfectly.”

Van Gils is already assured of his place in the Lotto-Dstny Tour team. Last year he came 2nd at Le Grand Colombier. “He now also goes as a ride hijacker. He is given complete freedom to choose his rides.”

“A pleasure to have as a teammate or to work with”

While Lotto-Dstny had difficulty keeping up with its top talents in the past, it can now retain its top prospects for a long time. Arnaud De Lie, Lennert Van Eetvelt and Maxim Van Gils were all signed for several years.

“The youth work has been going well for us for years,” says Kurt Van de Wouwer. “Tim Wellens, Tiesj Benoot and Thomas De Gendt also started with us. However, there are currently 3-4 of those talents driving for us. In any case, 50% of our team comes from our own youth team.”

Van Gils feels good at Lotto-Dstny, that is also clear off the bike. “He fits in very well with the group, is always cheerful and up for a joke. It is a pleasure to have Maxim as a teammate and to work with him.”

The pieces of the puzzle are also falling together in private. “He met his French girlfriend two years ago in the Dauphiné. Now he spends most of the year in Grenoble, where he often trains in the mountains. It clearly doesn’t have a bad effect on his performance (laughs). “

Related: