Van Avermaet the incorrigible
When the time comes to write the history of this year’s Spring Classics, the names of the winners are likely to be the first recorded. Sagan, Cancellara, Gilbert…the best of the current era are rightly celebrated as champions of which the sport can be proud. But spare a thought for BMC Racing’s Greg Van Avermaet, a man whose efforts in the Northern Classics and now in the first engagement of Ardennes Week might serve as a definition of determination.
Having been pipped on the line by Ian Stannard at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the opening one-day race of the European season, lesser riders may have found themselves discouraged. Not Van Avermaet. The Belgian was chief animator at the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, before losing again in similarly heartbreaking fashion, this time to Fabian Cancellera (Trek). At Paris-Roubaix he was again on the attack, despite falling in the path of team-mate, Marcus Burghardt. And while the cobbled Classics and the hilly parcours of the Ardennes have made them increasingly specialist pursuits, Van Avermaet was out-front at the Amstel Gold Race, towing a reluctant Jacob Fuglsang (Astana) until they became the last of the escapees to be recaptured in the closing five kilometres.
Perhaps only Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas has worked as hard this spring as Van Avermaet, but the comparison does not flatter the Welshman. Van Avermaet’s near misses would represent career highs in cycling’s one-day races for Thomas. The Belgian has been until now a.n.other member of BMC Racing’s formidable Classics line-up. His 2014 campaign should change that.
