Greg Van Avermaert of the CCC team told Belgian media that he will decide Friday whether he will participate in Sunday's Tour of Flanders, the 35-year-old having crashed in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race on October 4, suffering broken ribs and a torn ligament in his shoulder and possibly ending his season. The season could be over.

However, in a Q&A interview with Het Nieuwsblad published on Tuesday, the Belgian said he is feeling much better and has resumed training.

"It is still more likely that I will not start. If he does start, it will be in a meaningful role." I'm not going to just ride from Antwerp to Oudenaarde. There is a big difference between riding and racing."

"I'm in much better shape than I was nine days ago and I'm back to cycling. I want to decide as late as possible if I'm going to race. The pain is now bearable on the bike, but I have to take it day by day and see if I feel good this weekend and if I can ride the Tour of Flanders 100%."

The Tour de Flanders title has always eluded Van Avermaet, the Olympic road race champion and 2017 Paris-Roubaix winner In 13 appearances, Van Avermaet has finished second in 2017 and 2014 and third in 2015 He has finished in the top 10 eight times, including.

In Liège, he crashed into a traffic island sign without marshals or padding with around 100 km to go and retired from the race, along with Jay McCarthy of Beulah Hansgrohe and Adam Yates of Mitchelton Scott, with no major injuries.

"I was in good shape at the start in Liège," Van Avermaat said.

"I did some fitness training on Saturday and Sunday, but I still have to find a feeling [for the bike] on Thursday and Friday. If I can't, it would be crazy to start on Sunday. If the race was tomorrow [Wednesday], I definitely wouldn't do it."

"It's not a race around a church tower," Van Avermaert said of Flanders. 'You have to be 100 percent ready.'