On-form Philippe Gilbert is the main favorite for today's Giro di Lombardia, the final classic of the season. The Belgian showed at the World Championships with a promising late attack that he is going well. While he was ultimately reeled back on the final flat kilometers in Geelong, Australia, he did manage to get a second win at the Giro del Piemonte in a row.
On Saturday, the 2009 Giro di Lombardia winner hopes to add a back to back victory here as well. Riding with the number one on his back will be a special, but short moment for Gilbert. "That is something I can enjoy when I put my number on the jersey," he tells Het Nieuwsblad. "But then that's it. It hangs on my back. In the race you don't think about it, and it is not like the other racers stop by to chat. For that, you have to have the rainbow jersey."
Gilbert missed the Worlds win, but is not giving it much thought anymore. "That is over, and it is very far back in my head. I think you journalists have more work with it than I." He has overcome the mental parts of the Worlds, but not the physical. "The long journey was not to be underestimated. Some of my fans were quite knackered for a few days from such a flight. Can you imagine what that means for an athlete?"
He added that this showed in Paris-Tours, where he wasn't good. He turned things around, winning Piemonte on Thursday. "I am in a little less form than last year," he says. "But it is not bad. I see myself contesting for the win."
Gilbert was quick to deny that he needed that win in Piemonte as a form check. "Necessary? It satisfied me, because winning is always fun. But it is no guarantee for a win in Lombardy. It was less kilometers and half of the competitors were not there - the Liquigas captains, [Samuel] Sánchez... No, you can't compare that."
Gilbert also can't compare the course to last year, as it changed. "I think team work will be very important," he says. "In the final everything will be very hectic. If you then have two teammates with you, it is more comfortable. Because then you can still correct a bad situation. Like Cadel Evans last year. That was worth gold." Evans played an impressive part in 2009 to bring back danger men like Damiano Cunego, Alexander Vinokourov or Jakob Fuglsang.
"I hope that somebody like Matthew Lloyd can now play this role. Because if I am by myself then it will be difficult. They will sit on my wheel," Gilbert muses. That is the situation for the strong favorite. But Gilbert doesn't mind it. "I like to be the favorite, that is true. I like to take responsibility, I don't hide in races." It is exactly his trademark aggressive racing style that makes Gilbert popular with cycling fans. In the last couple of years he was also rewarded with great wins for his attacking riding style. Will he get another big reward in Lombardy?