Van Avermaet looking for win in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

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Greg Van Avermaet does not want to be anywhere but on the top step of the podium Saturday after the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.  “Everyone says that I can win.  And I believe it myself. But now I want confirmation.”

He will share leadership for BMC Racing Team at the Omloop with Thor Hushovd and Taylor Phinney, with the decision as to who will go for the win to be made during the race. “How we play the cards will depend on how the race goes,” Van Avermaet told Het Nieuwsblad.  “Last year the plan was that I would go in an escape group and that Thor would sprint.  But Thor was in the escape and I sprinted at the end.

“There is little sense in planning it in advance. Let me put it this way: we have a very strong team.  One of the strongest which will be at the start on Saturday.”

He finished fifth in the race last year, one of many “good” finishes in a season which saw no wins. Which just means that this year “A victory would be so much more valuable for me.”

As the first race of the season in his Belgian homeland, he said “I look forward to it every year.” It is also a benchmark as to how his year will go.  “Your condition is maybe not 100 percent, but you can't put it off much longer. The intention is to have a little bit to grow and improve until the end of the Classics. Until Liege-Bastogne-Liege, in my case.”