Our rider had a solid outing on the opening day of the Spanish race.
This season hasn’t been the smoothest one so far for Ilan Van Wilder, who faced several setbacks in this first year with Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, from a Liège–Bastogne–Liège that sidelined him for several weeks to stomach problems forcing him to skip the Tour de Wallonie, which would have been his first outing since the National Championships.
Having overcome this latest mishap, the 22-year-old lined up for the Vuelta a Burgos, which debuted Tuesday afternoon with a rolling stage around the city founded back in the ninth century. Until 15 kilometers to go, the day belonged to a three-man breakaway whose nine-minute maximum advantage didn’t pose a real threat to the peloton.
At the foot of Alto del Castillo, the 900m climb averaging 5.2%, several teams stormed to the front to bring their leaders in a prime position, and from these Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) ended up prevailing at the top. Ilan Van Wilder came in eighth position with a group that concluded the stage five seconds later, a result made even more impressive by the fact the punchy finish wasn’t necessarily tailored to his skills. The Belgian is in the top 10 overall and second in the youth classification ahead of the hilly journey to Villadiego.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Ilan Van Wilder 
