Fabian Cancellara may be top of the list of favourites for most people for tomorrow’s Tour of Flanders, with Tom Boonen also mentioned as a big contender, but one rider who simply can’t be discounted is Philippe Gilbert. He was watched closely in Milan-Sanremo, losing out on the chance of victory due to the chasing of Filippo Pozzato, yet may have a little more leeway in tomorrow’s Ronde.
With many watching Cancellara and Boonen, Gilbert will aim to profit and to chase victory in one race he is yet to win.
The Omega Pharma Lotto rider feels satisfied with things as the start approaches. “I feel that the shape is better than last year and I was third. Moreover, with Roelandts and Greipel we have a strong team,” he told Sporza.
After taking third in Milan-Sanremo, he has continued to train and to race, increasing his form further. He’s still not in top condition, but that is planned. Besides, Gilbert’s 90 percent level is far higher than most of his rivals, and he’s satisfied with things as they are.
"I have a good week of training behind me. On Wednesday I checked out the course again and that should be fine for Sunday,” he said. “Especially with the condition that I have now. I always start with the ambition to win, and it will be the same on Sunday,” he told Sporza.
“I am now two to three kg lighter [than last year] and I have less races finished. That was a conscious choice. My peak is yet to come. [But] I won’t be able to blame anything on Sunday evening…I have everything done.”
Gilbert has set himself the career goal of winning all of the major Classics. He dominated the finale of Amstel Gold last year, winning the race with a frankly stunning acceleration on the rise up to the finish. He has also won two editions of the Giro di Lombardia. Third in Flanders last year shows that he can realistically hope to win the race, while his climbing abilities mean that Liège is also an attainable goal.
Tomorrow gives him the chance to tick off another step towards that career ambition.
More so than in other years, Gilbert has a team that looks set to back him up well. Greipel showed his strength with a stage win in the recent Three Days of De Panne, and he will be a valuable right hand man. The German has made his name as a sprinter but he took that recent victory the hard way, going clear in one of the later breaks and then outsprinting the others and holding off the bunch.
That ride gave the impression that he was building condition and confidence for Flanders, and he should be a good ally for Gilbert tomorrow. Manager Marc Sergeant agrees, referring to Greipel and Roelandts as also having the shape to be considered contenders.
However Gilbert’s status as team number one is indisputable; he’s at a different level to his team-mates and many of his rivals, and is ready to seize his chance if things play out as he wants them to do.