News: Gilbert uncertain about 2021

Philippe Gilbert is uncertain about the new cycling season saying “I have come a long way after my crash in the Tour when I had to start from zero again”

News: Gilbert uncertain about 2021

Former world champion Philippe Gilbert is about the new cycling season saying “I have come a long way after my crash in the Tour when I had to start from zero again. On the opening stage of last year’s Tour, disaster struck for Philippe Gilbert when he broke his kneecap in a fall and missed all the classics after the fall.

“My injury in the previous Tour was much more complex than in my fall in the 2018 Tour. I had a lot of problems with my knee and my leg in general and because of that, in the end I lost a lot of muscle in both legs.”

Gilbert is now almost free of the pain from that injury but his condition is another matter. “When I started training again, I was starting from 0. It had been a long time since I experienced that. During my 1st training week, I had the level of someone who had just started racing. It is difficult to know where I am now. “I still have two to three weeks to get ready for the season. In the coming weeks, I can still add volume and speed to my training sessions.”

Gilbert has given a glimpse of his program. “It is difficult to set big goals now as I have to be able to rider in the finales again in races. Normally I start my season in France, with the Grand Prix la Marseillaise, the Etoile Bessèges and the Tour of Provence. But there is always the possibility that those races will be canceled/postponed, as happened with the Tour of Mallorca.”

“So, I only train with Milan-Sanremo in my head. That is my daily motivation. A win in Sanremo can give my career even more of a shine”, says Gilbert, who’s list of Monument victories is only missing the Italian spring classic. What about Paris-Roubaix , the monument he won in 2019? “It is not yet certain that I will start there this year.”