Philippe Gilbert won big races for the BMC team, but they rarely fired the imagination like his Tour of Flanders and Amstel victories did this year with Quick-Step Floors. Procycling spoke to the Walloon rider to find out how the change of scenery fired him back to his best.
Philippe Gilbert sits on his hotel balcony, taking in the Swiss view on a perfectly still Saturday evening. Before him, Lake Lucerne reflects the light blue sky, hills covered in fresh summer green and a gold bar of the setting sun. A white cruiser passes bearing an enormous red Swiss flag on the stern; the cruiser's wash laps at the shore like distant applause.
It's the evening after the Tour de Suisse prologue and other Quick-Step Floors riders file down to the water for a swim before dinner. "A 6km ride and a lake swim," Yves Lampaert, the 26-year-old Classics rider says gleefully. "The life of the pro, eh?"
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After a while Gilbert nods our way, and 15 minutes later he's downstairs in his covetable Belgian national champions' skinsuit with the stripes of a former world champion on the sleeves and collar. He orders some beers and settles in, his back to the view. Life is good at the moment. The spiky short back and sides, the casual body language, the banter he exchanges with the other riders, and, later, the fooling about for the camera are the outward signs of an alpha male to whom life is currently giving a tailwind.
"Mmm. Quality," he says after taking a long draught of Feldschlösschen. It turns out he's a bit of a connoisseur; he wants Nicolas Roche, another Monaco resident, to take him to Dublin for the perfect Guinness, he jokes. Has he always enjoyed a beer or a glass or two of wine? "Always! If not, I wouldn't be a pro after 15 years with the same motivation. It's not possible. You see all the other riders. They focus for two, three four – maximum five years – and they're gone, they disappear, you know. But if you want a long-term career you need a life besides your job. There is a moment to enjoy life and a moment to be serious. You need to feel the moment." The beer did no harm. The next day, Gilbert won the bunch sprint - his fifth victory of the year.
In 2017, you'll know, Philippe Gilbert had another moment in that long and already successful career. He became the first rider in 37 years to win Flanders and Amstel in the same season. In the baldest terms possible, the events – in particular the extraordinary 50km solo to win Flanders and the victory on a revamped Amstel course with a tear in the tissue around the kidney - recalled some of his greatest hits, like the four wins in 10 days in 2009 culminating in his first Giro di Lombardia title. Or, of course, like the whole of 2011.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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