The Bora-Hansgrohe minivan in Nanning was jubilant after Pascal Ackermann took his 12th win of the season on stage 3 of the Tour of Guangxi. Max Schachmann was one of them, and while congratulating him on a good season, he talked about safety and his plans for 2020. [5 wins, including stage wins at the Vuelta al País Vasco and the Volta a Catalunya, and top-five finishes in each of the Ardennes Classics.

But when asked about his 2019 campaign, Schachmann instead referred to the Tour de France and the crash that derailed his debut in the biggest race of the year.

"I'm happy with this year," he told Cycling News. "But I got back into form during the Tour and was in contention for a top-five finish in the time trial. Unfortunately, I crashed like Wout Van Aert in that corner."

"I don't know what happened, maybe the barriers changed after the crash. So I went off the road about 20 centimeters and broke my hand. It took me a long time to recover and I'm still in pain. I don't think it will be easy to get back in shape for that."

Such a prolonged recovery from the injury means that Schachmann only returned to racing earlier this month, which means that he will not be back in top condition until later in the season, and the possibility of a GC contender with a hilltop finish on stage 4 may not materialize.

A crash early in stage 3 would not have helped either, as the German champion's shorts were torn and his elbow was bloodied when he hit the deck on a poorly maintained road.

"During one lap there was one square, half a meter by three meters, where they were grinding the asphalt. It was really bad luck

"There are 20,000 Chinese police and volunteers monitoring the parkour, but there is no one in the really dangerous areas. It was ridiculous.

"We came back from a long rest and we weren't the best prepared. It's definitely going to be a lot harder than stage three."

Schachmann assisted Ackermann to victory on Saturday and shadowed him on the run-in to the finish, which included a climb of just 5km to the finish. He held off a strong move by Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) to reach the finish with a reduced group.

Still sweating from the hot and humid day's effort in central Guangxi, Schachmann said he wasn't sure before the stage whether he was a sprinter or a puncher, but after the first few laps he knew that Ackermann could survive at the front of the race.

"Our [Felix Großschartner and I] job was to look out, chase attacks, and possibly get into a small breakaway group. If Pascal was there, we just had to hold the group together."

"I could see him going up the front, so I basically followed every attack until the bridge [at 1km]. Then Mitchelton Scott picked up the pace for me."

Schachmann has only four days left in his season. He told Cyclingnews that he has a rough outline of his goals, but nothing is set in stone yet.

"I think the Ardennes Classics will again be a big goal, but there are also races like Tirreno and Catalunya. I think there are a lot of races that will suit me."

"I think the Ardennes Classics will be my big goal again.

"I am convinced that I am still developing. I'm convinced I can still take another step forward."