Cycling news - Exclusive Q&A - Greg Van Avermaet: Olympics win will always be highlight of my career

I’m really happy about my preparation. Ok, it’s a new team, but we have a lot of ambition. We started really well Down Under with Patrick Bevin winning a stage. I was really happy with myself of course winning a stage in Valencia. I think it’s really important. We have a new team, new sponsor, if you can start well and show the level of your team it’s really important to start of the season, and hopefully we can bring it to the whole year and keep performing at this level.

Well… The base of the team is still the same as BMC. We have the same management, the same structure of people around with the same mechanics, same soigneurs, same directors… We went to the training camp in the same hotel as BMC. So I think the base is the same, we just have different sponsors. We have CCC as our new main sponsors, we have Giant for the bikes and Etxeondo for the clothing. Those are very good brands. I just need to adapt a little bit but we’ve had the whole winter for it so at this point I don’t feel any disadvantage. It even gives a little bit of extra-motivation. It’s a new environment and it may push you to an extra effort.

It feels really nice. We’re racing with the ambition to win and finally I won again. Last year was I think a good year but it was not a super year. I was performing pretty well, I was 8 days in the Tour in Yellow… I just missed this big win to make it a great year. But it’s not easy. There’s a super high level and big concurrence in my races. 2017 went super well, maybe too easy, but I think 2018 was good. But it’s always nice when you can start winning again. For myself, mentally, it’s much nicer to finally put the hands in the air again.

It’s not an obsession, for sure, but I think it’s a reward of the hard work. People may not see everything we do to try and make things right, you know. Outside of the race, we put so much effort in. In the winter we try to prepare ourselves the best we can. We spend a lot of hours on the saddle and there’s also lots of other things we do outside of the bike. And then it’s really great to see yourself first on the finish line. That’s the motivation.

It was strange actually. I started with the same ambition, did the same work and then things came a bit by themselves, which is a strange feeling, because I was always the guy who had to work hard to win races and then in 2017 I always came 2nd or 1st every race. I think you just have to enjoy that moment, and that’s what I did. I realized the moment itself, I’m probably never gonna have another year like 2017. Maybe I can have the same shape but the races will never go that well. That’s also what came out in 2018. I didn’t feel like I was worse but sometimes the classics are also more tactical, more about decision making than other races. But we see how it goes this year. Hopefully with this win (in Valencia) I can also get in a streak again. It makes it easier.

Rio is the highlight of my career. I said it after winning: it doesn’t get any bigger. It’s a special victory because I think you only get one chance in your career to win the Olympics: you have to have the parcours, you have to have the shape. I was obviously really, really happy with this victory and it will always be the top of my career.

Crashes are always there. You always have to stand up and try to come back to a good level. When I crashed in Flanders I had the feeling I was capable of winning. And then in a matter of seconds you’re down on the ground and your race is done. That’s part of the sport I think. Luckily I could escape a lot of big crashes and I’ve had a good career.

The classics campaign is still very important for me and I want to win Flanders. And the World championships are very important for me too. To finally have a good result there would be super nice because it’s a one day race, that’s what fits me the best, and also I think there’s a good chance for me this year in Yorkshire to do really well. And then I always have the ambition to do well in the Tour, the biggest race in the world. I’m really happy that I’ve had a lot of success already there. And hopefully I can do well again there in the next years.

I looked at it a little bit… I saw the parcours and I know the region very well. I think the problem is I have a really long classics season. Some years I did Liège but we have to take it week by week. For sure I’m going to Amstel and maybe after Amstel I can still do Liège. But it depends of my condition and how I’d feel going into Liège. It’s still a hard race. They made it harder in the middle of the race with the côte de Mont-le-Soie, Haute-Levé, Rosier… It’s a really big block of climbs there. And also the Roche-aux-Faucons is going to be the main climb of the race. Ok, you have 15 kilometres of flat to the finish but I still think riders like Valverde, Alaphilippe can make the difference on the climb. So riders like me really have to hope they’re looking a little bit at each other so we can make a result.

Yes, I could. But for the moment my palmarès is not big enough to do this. I still want to focus on the Flanders classics and also the Amstel on top of it instead of focusing on the Flèche Wallonne and Liège. I try to win Flanders first and then maybe…

It’s a super-long race, around 280-290 kilometres, which always suits me the best. It has a kind of a Flemish parcours so it’s really good for me. That’s why I’ll go with ambition. I won’t have many more chances in my career so hopefully I can do a good result there.

It will be the classics guys like [Peter] Sagan, [Alexander] Kristoff… Fast guys with a lot of punch. I think we’ll have the best chances. Last year it was super hard but I think this year it’s back to the classics riders. Matthews also can be good. We have to see how the season goes but the riders from Flanders and also the strong sprinters will be up there.

Yes, but that’s a hard target to reach.

Both the Worlds and the Olympics are immense goals. But for me… The Olympics, it’s also something special because my father went to the Olympics and it’s a unique event. Of course, the Worlds are also super nice but I’ve been able to enjoy my victory at Rio. It changed my life and I think all of that is why I love it more.