Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal) is unsure if he will be in top form in the spring classics due to a long-standing knee injury suffered in last year's Tour de France. The Belgian crashed on the first stage of Nice and returned to racing at the end of 2020, but was forced to end his season before the changed spring classics. A fractured kneecap suffered in France limited his training volume and intensity over the winter as he struggled to regain fitness, but the veteran rider is hopeful that after racing in February and early March, he can regain the mileage and speed needed to regain his form. I'll know later if I'm going to race Paris-Roubaix," he said. For now, I want to race and see how my knee is doing. Roubaix is not that important in my eyes, so I will think about that later. First I want to race again and see if I can make it to the final to be in contention for the win. Then I can think about more serious goals. But I can't say anything right now. For now, I'm going to keep quiet about my big goals.

Gilbert has suffered two fractures of the kneecap in his career, the first occurring in the 2018 Tour de France. This latest break is more serious than the first and has severely limited his workload during the off-season.

"It was much worse than I expected. I had a lot of problems with my legs, not just my knee. I lost a lot of muscle on my left side and had to start almost from scratch. The first week I was at the beginner's level. I didn't have any help, and so it's hard to know where I'm at right now. I still have a couple of weeks to go. Then I can add volume and speed. It's been a long time since I stopped at Bink Bank and haven't run at speed since. All my problems are fixed and I can push hard again, but there is still time before the season starts. It's the second shock to the same bone and it's always difficult to come back a second time." [Gilbert's 2021 season opens with the Grand Prix Cicliste la Marseillaise at the end of January, followed by the Etoile de Besseges, Tour du Gard, Grand Prix Cicliste la Marseillaise, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Paris-Nice, and then the Spring Classic The race will go on to the Belgian riders have already won the Tour de Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia.

"It's like a dream," he said of Milan-San Remo.

"I don't know if that is possible this year, but that is my motivation. I made all these sacrifices to come back for it. It's my motivation to train every day to get stronger. I think about Milan-San Remo all the time. It's a very important race and if I can do it, I know it will change my career and Parma."