Regardless of what he achieves on the 200-kilometre loop from Ghent and back on Saturday afternoon, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is likely to mark Philippe Gilbert’s sole appearance in a cobbled classic this year. For the third successive season, the Belgian focuses his attention on the Ardennes Classics, while Greg Van Avermaet will lead the line for BMC at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
It hasn’t always been thus, of course. Gilbert finished on the podium of the Tour of Flanders in successive years before breaking his Ardennes duck at Amstel Gold Race in 2010, and by the time he landed the hat-trick of Ardennes Classics victories during his annus mirabilis of 2011, many wondered whether Gilbert might become the next man – after Messrs. Merckx, De Vlaeminck and Van Looy – to win all five of the Monument Classics.
Four years on, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy remain the only Monuments on Gilbert’s palmarès, and while Milan-San Remo is a perennial goal, he has not raced Paris-Roubaix since 2007 and the Tour of Flanders has also been excised from his programme in the intervening period. Despite his recent specialisation, however, Gilbert told reporters in Kortrijk on Friday that completing the quintet remains an ambition.
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“This is a goal but I know it’s very hard,” Gilbert said. “When I was younger I thought I’d win Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders sooner than I won the Tour of Lombardy. I thought Lombardy was the one I’d never win because it’s so hard. But you have to work specifically for these races.”
For the time being, splitting objectives with Van Avermaet – who has himself shone in the Ardennes in years past – makes sense for both Gilbert and BMC. At 32 years of age, however, Gilbert is aware that the window of opportunity is slowly closing. “Yeah, sure, I can’t wait much longer,” he said of Paris-Roubaix. “I will give it a try.”
Omloop
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