This Tuesday 15th of October, Gijs Van Hoecke flirted with his first professional victory by finishing second in the bunch sprint of the opening stage of the Tour of Guangxi in China.
The 32 year old Belgian rider achieves his very first World Tour podium and his first podium in ten years time. The former track world champion plays an important role since his arrival in team Intermarché-Wanty, in the sprint trains of Arne Marit, Gerben Thijssen and Biniam Girmay.
This Tuesday, he grabbed his chance by launching the sprint with 200 meters to go, on the right side of the road. Thanks to his powerful effort, he was only a couple of centimeters behind the winner Lionel Taminiaux when he crossed the finish line in Fangchenggang first.
Before this sprint, his teammate Rune Herregodts rode most of the 150 kilometer stage in the lead. Thanks to the bonus seconds he won during his breakaway, Herregodts is currently fourth in the provisional general classification, Van Hoecke is second.
"In this Tour of Guangxi I receive the opportunity to sprint myself, in contrary to my usual and favorite role in the lead out, which felt quite strange today. And almost miraculously, everything unfolded perfectly in the final hectometers: I was in a good position, I had room to sprint, I launched at the right moment and my teammates Lilian Calmejane and Kevin Colleoni protected my slipstream. These perfect conditions don't come along very often, so it's a shame not to take full advantage with a win. But I'm actually feeling very happy, because this podium came out of the blue." "I'm happy to be able to offer Intermarché-Wanty this personal result, because the confidence with which I sprinted today is thanks to the appreciation I receive within the team, from both the staff and the riders. This season, I received confidence in a role of lead out alongside strong sprinters in whom I believe. We regularly finished close to victory and that motivates us to continue working together in the years to come. The team makes efforts to maintain a family atmosphere and a lot of good things are organised with limited resources. That's the strength of the team and it's unique in the World Tour"
