Confidence and discretion are usually seen as opposites, but somehow Zdenek Stibal (Quick Step - Alphavinyl) seems to have managed to juggle both in the countdown to this year's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Stibal took his first Belgian Classic win in Omloop Het Niusblad in 2019 thanks to a solo run in the closing laps after the race exploded in Molenberg, and soon followed with a victory in E3 Harelbeke. It makes sense that Omloop Het Nieuwsblad would be a special place for the 36-year-old. If this memory is only one of the reasons that motivate the Czech racer to ride the peloton in Ghent on Saturday morning, his excellent winter training is another.

Still, as Stybar pointed out to Cycling News, no matter how well you think you're in shape, when you rattle through the cobblestones and bergs of central Flanders, you can be sure of the feeling you get the weekend before the season opener.

"We don't know how the other players are doing or what condition they are in. We know the team will perform well, but this race is always an unknown because everyone starts the year with a different race program.

"But I think everything is going well. We had a good winter and got all the training we needed. It was a really tough race in Ruta, especially these last two stages. It's going to be a really difficult race, but we're definitely a very strong team for that race."

Thankfully, one of the elements that has freed him from the puzzle of the Classics over the years, says Stibal, is an irregular heartbeat that sidelined his spring campaign in the middle of last year. After finishing fifth in Ghent-Wevelgem, he underwent heart cauterization surgery in early April for the second half of the spring. He, too, was worried that his career might be over.

"I had never faced heart problems before. I didn't feel anything," he told Het Laatste Nieuws in an interview at the time.

"Heart disease is a nightmare for top athletes, and in the last few years athletes have already fallen victim to heart disease. So it was scary."

"On the Tuesday after Ghent-Wevelgem, the day before the surgery, I went cycling with Mathieu van der Pol. On the way home, I thought, "Oh shit, this could have been my last training session."

"I was so scared,"

"I was so scared," he said.

As it turned out, Stybar's fears were misplaced, and he shone again in Belgium in the second half of the season, riding strongly to support sprinter Fabio Jacobsen in the Vuelta and finishing seventh at the world championships.

Following the opening weekend, 2015 winners Strade Bianche and Tirreno will be switched to Paris-Nice. However, their main goal remains the same: Belgium and France this spring.

His off-season, Stybar says, was to spend more time with his family after a stressful and tough year of heart surgery.

But in 2022, he's back on the road again, and after many miles in warmer weather at Ruta del Sol, he's confident he's headed in the right direction after Saturday.

"Sometimes what you feel is still different, and a lot can change and evolve. But it was a good start."

While Stibal describes Omloop Het Niusbrod as a voyage into the unknown, Brian Holm, director of Ruta del Sol, says that Quick Step Alfavinir makes a virtue of not knowing when things will happen in the Big Classic He told Cycling News.

"It's the best strategy. [Quick Step Classic directors] Wilfried Peters and Tom Steele learned something from the Mapei days.

"Nobody knew what Mapei was going to do. So nobody knew when they were going to jump."

Holm added, "Most teams have one or two leaders, but Quickstep has three or four, sometimes five. Of course, Zdenek is one of them."

Of course, it will be clear by Sunday evening who Quickstep will support to win in Ninove and Kune. And in terms of eliminating any pre-season logical doubts about comparing form with opponents, Stybar wryly says: "I think we'll be smarter next week."

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