Greg Van Avermaet: 'I won't be happy with second place anymore'

Only the top step of the podium will do for Greg Van Avermaet at this year's Tour of Flanders

Greg Van Avermaet attacks in the 2016 Dwars door Vlaanderen. Photo: Graham Watson

Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) made such a jump in quality over the last year that he says he will no longer be happy finishing second in the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

Van Avermaet took his biggest win yet when he won the 13th stage of the Tour de France last year ahead of Peter Sagan (Tinkoff). He returned in 2016 to win the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad cobbled classic, and a stage and the overall title in the Tirreno-Adriatico. The step up in quality has made the nearly-man a five-star favourite for both Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.