Two more stages to go for the 23-year-old, who aims for a good overall result this week.
Ilan Van Wilder passed an important test at the Deutschland Tour, the 201.3km stage 2 between Kassel and Winterberg, which culminated with a punchy uphill finish. Victorious on the previous day, when he rocketed to the top of the leaderboard, the young Belgian kept his composure as attacks came from all over the place in the last twenty kilometers.
In addition to staying close to his rivals, Ilan made sure of emerging from the pack at the right moment, just before the top of the Altastenberg climb, and snatched three valuable bonus seconds. The red jersey wearer firmly controlled things also on the final ascent, and eventually concluded the stage won by Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar) in fifth place.
Following this strong outing in pouring rain, Van Wilder continues to lead the general classification, where he has now increased his advantage to eleven seconds. On top of that, he is first also in the points and youth standings ahead of the undulating stage to Essen.
Photo credit: ©Christian Kaspar-Bartke / Getty Images
Ilan Van Wilder 
