If there were any doubts about Philippe Gilbert's ability to return to the cobbled classics, they have been firmly rebutted this week with a pair of runner-up spots at Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke that might leave the BMC management slightly sheepish at having held the Belgian back for the Ardennes during his five-year spell there.
Gilbert, who joined the American team on the back of winning the 'Ardennes triple' of Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2011, repeatedly stated his desire to ride the cobbled one-day races from 2014 onwards, but there were rumours of animosity between him and head honcho Greg Van Avermaet, and the two were largely kept on different race programmes.
There was added pique, then, to the finale of E3 Harelbeke, as Gilbert, now riding for Quick-Step Floors, wound up in a successful three-man group with Van Avermaet—though it was his old foe who reasserted his dominance.
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"I have no problem losing to Greg. For a while the media have played on a bad atmosphere between us. We're two very similar riders, we want to attack at the same time, and that was the problem at BMC," said Gilbert, with held out his hand to Van Avermaet after crossing the line.
Gilbert may have lost the race but he has grabbed his second chance at the cobbles with both hands so far. Even for a former world champion who has twice finished on the podium of the Tour of Flanders and twice won Het Volk, the task of returning to prominence at a team where there are already a number of riders who could be outright leaders elsewhere can't be underestimated.
After getting back into the swing of things at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last month, he was the architect of a successful Dwars door Vlaanderen campaign on Wednesday, forming the first decisive selection before cutting the front group to four on the Paterberg, and his second place felt like a victory as teammate Yves Lampaert went solo in a fine tactical execution. He was in a similar mood at E3, again driving the decisive selection just after the Taiienberg before forging clear with Van Avermaet and Oliver Naesen on the Oude Kwaremont, only to be caught out by Naesen's early jump in the headwind sprint.
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