Gilbert: De Panne win not really important, only Sunday counts

Philippe Gilbert's tub-thumping return to the cobbled Classics continued with a show of force on the opening day of the Three days of De Panne. It's not one of the most prestigious of the spring calendar, but Gilbert used it to show – to anyone who might be in doubt – that he won't be turning up in Antwerp this Sunday just to be an also-ran.

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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.