Philippe Gilbert takes racing break due to "mental and physical" fatigue

Philippe Gilbert has decided to take a break from racing due to mental and physical fatigue, meaning he will miss the Tour of Flanders. It is not clear how long he will be out of racing action for.

However, Gilbert said the knee injury he sustained last year - breaking his kneecap on stage 1 at the Tour de France - and the recovery required took a lot out of him. And he was no longer gaining condition, as he normally would at this time of year.

While the Belgian veteran has already raced 22 days so far this year, he abandoned Gent-Wevelgem at the weekend and also pulled out of E3 Saxo Bank Classic last week.

He said he rushed himself to be ready for Milan-Sanremo, which was the first race he could ride without pain in his knee this year, and he believed he had overdone things. As his condition had stagnated, he said rest was the only thing that would help him progress as his poor form lately was due to "lack of mental and physical freshness".

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“I think it is due to all the work I did after my crash at the Tour de France last year. I am still human. I put in a lot of work, without any decent rest really,” he said, adding while he may be back for the Ardennes Classics, that was not certain.

“At the time, I’ve had a bad diagnosis of the knee. We didn’t really realise how serious that second crash was. In the end, it was much more serious than we initially thought. Maybe I should have stopped my 2020 season at that point.

“The Friday before Milan-Sanremo was the first time I could pedal without any knee pain. So, this has been eleven days now. After analysis, I now realise that at the team training camp in January, I was still at least 20 or 30 per cent behind the average level of the group, I think.

“So, I went through a period of doubt, especially because I was putting pressure on myself to be ready for Milan-Sanremo. So I worked even harder to try to come back. I made big physical progress since the training camp, but it maybe went a little too fast. And now, I am paying for it.

“I’ve reached a point where my shape is no longer evolving. I am stagnating and I can’t reach the next level. Every year, I normally move up a level and I become stronger after Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico. Now, I’m staying at the same level. So, the body doesn’t accept the workload or the system of overcompensation anymore.”