Maxim Van Gils has said there is “no need to be mad with [Jan] Christen” after his crash at the Clásica Jaén that has left him with a fractured hip and, it has just been revealed, shoulder.
The UAE Emirates-XRG rider apologised to Van Gils for causing the incident, which leaves the Belgian out of competition for several weeks and forces him to miss his main focus of the Ardennes Classics.
Van Gils also gave his version of events on how things unfolded in the three-up sprint between the two men and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5).
“When the three of us came onto the home straight, nobody really wanted to make the first move because there was a bit of a tailwind and it was also slightly downhill. So you really needed the perfect moment,” he said.
“Then Pidcock tried it on the left. I reacted. Christen then came from the right and maybe a bit closer than he needed. But that’s the way it is in cycling. Things like that happen. Especially when you’ve been riding on gravel for four hours.
“Everyone wanted to get to the finish line as quickly as possible and the barrier was getting closer and closer. At that moment, I got a little knock from Christen on my handlebars. I tipped into the barrier, which probably broke my bike and then I flew off over the handlebars.
“I remember waiting at the race doctor’s car for ten minutes afterwards because the doctors were discussing the situation with the team. I thought at that moment that I would probably be a bit stiff for the next few days, but that I could still build up a good form for Strade, Tirreno and Sanremo. And then someone from the team came to me and said that my hip was broken.”
On top of the hip, there was also a broken shoulder…
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