'The clocks stopped ticking for a moment... but there's no need to be mad with Christen' – Maxim Van Gils forgives after breaking shoulder and pelvis in crash

Belgian rider fell in closing sprint at Clasica Jaén

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Belgian rider Maxim Van Gils has said there is "no need to be mad with [Jan] Christen" despite breaking his shoulder and pelvis in a crash at the Clásica Jaén on Monday, which Christen caused.

The Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider came down in the final meters of the Spanish one-day race, as he opened his sprint for second place against Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). Christen was later disqualified by the commissaires, having appeared to deviate to the left, veering towards the barriers and across Van Gils's line.

The UAE Emirates-XRG rider later apologised to Van Gils for causing the incident, which means Van Gils will be out for "months", according to his team. The injured party revealed Christen had also reached out to apologise.

"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," Van Gils said in an interview released by his team this week. "So you really needed the perfect moment. 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.

"Of course, that was extremely disappointing. 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 [Bianche], Tirreno [-Adriatico] and [Milan-] San Remo. And then someone from the team came to me and said that my hip was broken."

"The clocks stopped ticking for a moment," he continued. "But the situation couldn't be changed. There's no need to be mad with Christen either. He wants to win races just as much as I do, he was very motivated. I know the feeling of coming into the final and fighting for the podium. That's what we train for every day.

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"The night after the incident, he sent me a message on social media. I replied to him and it was okay with that. I think he felt bad too and didn't want something like that to happen."

As for his recovery and the season: "It's only just begun. I can't do much for four to six weeks now. But it's almost like the winter break. I took a break in November, didn't do anything. And then: December, January - two and a half months later I'm already close to top shape again. I still have plenty of time, there are still many beautiful races to come."