Tour of Flanders: Gilbert plays down Quick-Step leadership role

Making the Quick-Step Floors team for the cobbled classics – the Belgian team's raison d'etre – is no easy feat at the best of times, and doing so as a new signing, as a 36-year-old, and after a five-year absence from the pavé, is another matter entirely. Yet Philippe Gilbert has gone above and beyond, pretty much establishing himself at the top of the team's hierarchy for Sunday's Tour of Flanders, with many placing him in the same bracket as Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) as a five-star favourite.

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.