STIJN VANDENBERGH

The Ag2r rider on why the Classics bring out his best per formances

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the real start of the season and the first Classic race.

It’s exciting. You don’t know where your form is. We’ve done races before, but here in Flanders the racing is different. I’m always motivated to race.

But I seem to be able to push a little bit harder and dig a little deeper in the Classics. The racing is in my back yard. I was born in Oudenaarde and I live in Zottegem. My friends, who have set a fan club, will be out supporting me during the Classics. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has given me some good memories.

Like the time I was second to Luca Paolini in 2013. It was very cold that year, around zero degrees. I attacked on Lippehovenstraat, Paolini followed and we went to the finish together. Also the year I was fourth in 2015. I had mixed emotions. It was a good result for me, but terrible for the team, Quick-Step [the race was decided by a quartet: three QuickStep riders and Sky’s Ian Stannard, who won]. Everything went wrong. Us three Quick-Step riders made mistakes – we almost forgot Stannard was on our wheel – and the directeur sportif in the car didn’t make good decisions. [Team manager] Patrick Lefevere was quite angry afterwards… Last year I came to Ag2r with the goal of riding for myself.

I was with Quick-Step for five years, always riding for Boonen, Niki Terpstra or someone else. I came with the aim of riding for myself with the support of the team. Now Oliver [Naesen] is growing very well and it’s normal he has the lead. If I feel strong enough I can work for Oliver and still ride the final like I did with Quick-Step. I was always in the final with Boonen and when you’re in that position with the leader you can usually get a result. In my third year there [2014] I was fourth in Harelbeke and fourth in the Ronde. I keep in touch with Boonen through social media. There’s a Whatsapp group for old Quick-Step boys from two or three years ago. The team has got much stronger again this year to support Oliver.

He can win big races, but on the second row we have me, but now also Tony Gallopin and Silvan Dillier who is a very strong rider. We now have two extra riders who can help Oliver in the last 30km. I think riders who start their careers late can be very good in their middle and late 30s.

Look at Van Avermaet and Oliver, they both started late and now they are making very fast progression. I also came to the sport late. I did basketball before cycling. I only started racing when I was 17. I didn’t win much but I was always good in hard races.

I was a secondyear espoir when I won my first big race, the Omloop Het Volk Beloften. The finish was a kilometre from my home where I live now. The finish was at the top of the climb; I live at the bottom. My best results have come in the Tour of Flanders.

Roubaix suits me better, though. Paris-Roubaix is less explosive than the short climbs in Flanders, but I always seem to have bad luck in Roubaix. Last year I had a crash and two flat tyres. Gent-Wevelgem in 2015 will stick in my memory forever.

[The race was hit by a powerful storm and 70mph winds]. When I finished the race, Mark Cavendish was already in the bus and he said, ‘F*ck, how did you get dropped with me and still finish in the final?’ I waited for him a couple of times for flat tyres and I brought him back, but then I rode from group to group and got to the front of the race and did the final. He couldn’t understand it. I think I can do two or three more big years until I’m 36 or 37.

You can have a year like Mat Hayman did when everything fits well and a race goes your way. I still believe a big win is possible and that’s my goal, really. I’ve got on the podium a few times but I don’t want to finish my career without winning a Classic.