Greg Van Avermaet to target Strade Bianche and Tour of Flanders

Olympic and WorldTour champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) has revealed Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders as his top ambitions next season

Magical, exceptional, incredible, that about sums up Greg Van Avermaet's incredible 2017 season, the strong man of the Spring classics. Winner of all the Spring classics apart the Tour of Flanders, his racing is impressive in every way, one in which the Belgian could not hope for a better outcome.

In 2017 Van Avermaet won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix.

Many Pro's would be happy with these results, but not Van Avermaet. The BMC leader is already planning his season, what to tackle and the priority for the year to come.

The Olympic champion said to the press "To do as well or better than last year in my two favorite classics, second in the Tour of Flanders and first in Paris-Roubaix, will be difficult . But next year I will be aiming for Strade Bianche and, above all, the Tour of Flanders."

For a Flemish rider the Tour of Flanders really is "the classic".  Second this season behind by Philippe Gilbert, he intends to and this Monumento to his growing palmares.

The Italian Strade Bianche race is one of his major goals, second this year, this event is still among those that have elluded him. But it may only be a matter of time for the 32 year old.

By focusing his season on Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders, failing to meet one of his two goals would be a disappointment, however this time last year Van Avermaet crashed on his mountain bike whilst out training and had to have surgery to fix an ankle fracture. Luckily he recovered before the start of the season.

The Paris-Roubaix winner feels better than last year "Without the ankle injury, there is a huge difference than last year . At the time of resuming training, I was barely two or three kilograms heavier than my racing weight. In Gran Canaria, with a temperature obviously much better than in Belgium this time of year, I can combine holidays and training." 

Greg Van Avermaet will fly to Spain for his pre-season training camp.