"I did things that I could never dream of" - Greg van Avermaet reflects happily on his career

Greg van Avermaet was one of the most successful riders in modern cycling. An Olympic champion, Paris-Roubaix winner, yellow jersey wearer at the Tour de France and much more; he looks back at his career fondly after retiring at the end of this season.

“It's just been a nice career, and I'm super happy to finish it still on a good way and being competitive. Not on the same level I was, but I can be happy with what I did. I'm happy with my decision," van Avermaet said in an interview with Cyclingnews. “I hope to do a few gravel races next year. But if you want to do good again, then you have to start training again, doing twenty hours a week again. I don't know if I'm up to that. But for sure, I’m still going to ride my bike.”

The Belgian hangs up his wheels at 38 years of age after almost two decades in the peloton. A pro since 2006, he became a traditional figure in the cobbled classics, which were a big part of his career. Among his 42 pro wins were several in this area of Europ, his endurance, sprint and tactical ability alongside tremendous power on the short ascents saw him thrive - specially in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

“Nowadays riders a little bit different, and they go earlier. I tried to go early a few times years ago, because I felt I was stronger when the race was man against man. But nobody was joining me, or else you’d get weaker guys with you," he tells, reminiscing the days where he was a leading figure in the classics. " You wouldn’t get anywhere that way, so you’d end up looking like the stupid guy. But these days, when a good guy goes, the other good guys follow. And after that, it's quite simple. If the good guys go and they ride together, then the rest won’t be able to follow."

He had to be more chirurgical with his attacks but his strength allowed him to win big and many times. In 2016 he benefited from a chaotic race to outsprint Jakob Fuglsang into an Olympic title, That year he also won at the Tour de France and then wore the yellow jersey for several days. “I did things that I could never dream of,” he admits.

“I was yellow jersey in the Tour – for me, that was a little bit insane – and I won the Olympics, and I had all the stuff that came after that. I worked hard for it, but everybody's working hard, so you also have to be also lucky and talented. But I gave my best every day, and when you do that, you can’t have a single regret. You should just be happy with yourself and look back on a great career.”