“I hope to be there in the classics” - Gianni Vermeersch ready to ride for Van der Poel and Philipsen in the spring
Cycling
Gianni Vermeersch has set his sights on the Flemish classics as he prepares for another season targeting the cobbled races. Speaking to Cyclism Actu, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider outlined his ambitions and expectations for the coming months.
"I think it's a bit similar to other years, I hope to be there in the classics," said Vermeersch, a specialist in cobbled races. "Without necessarily saying that I have a specific role, I have to prepare for the classics and try to help the leaders, and I think the last two years have been really good, so I hope to be at the same level this year."
Vermeersch, who won the Gravel World Championship in 2022, remains a strong competitor in both gravel and road racing. He finished fifth in the 2024 Gravel World Championship and has also put in solid performances at Paris-Roubaix, finishing 11th in 2023 and sixth in 2024.
"I really like this race," he said about Paris-Roubaix. "The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, I think for a cyclist, these are the two most important races, the most prestigious one-day races, so if you can compete in these races with the best cyclists in the world, it's great."
Once again, Vermeersch will take on the role of a key support rider for Mathieu van der Poel, a two-time winner of Paris-Roubaix, and Jasper Philipsen, who has finished second behind his teammate in the last two editions of arguably the most difficult race of the year.
"I think that it will not really change my role in the races. As I said, in recent years, I have had the same role, so I don't think that this year I should change my role and be in the position of Soren or Axel. I can just try to do the same thing that I was able to do in previous years."
Vermeersch's season will begin with a busy schedule, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Milan-San Remo, before moving into the core of the classics campaign.
Looking beyond the spring, he remains uncertain about his gravel racing plans. "Nothing planned for the moment. It's difficult, it depends on the Grand Tours. I hope of course that I will be there this year. After that, we have already planned the classics, and next year, we will be able to plan some gravel races."
Just in
Play for FREE! Fantasy Tour of Flanders
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- Powless just got “better” at 28, Rog hasn’t gotten worse at 35, GT only really started getting going in GT late twenties. Give the guy a chance, he’s not even been let off the leash yet, remember what Jonas achieved GT wise since being given leader status.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Jorgenson turns 26 this year, he won't get much bettervappaxbipmv02-04-2025
- i completely agree. wouter has been through a meat grinder. he’s such a class act, a man of such character that he would never complain or make excuses, that’s why it’s so infuriating to hear him spoken about as if he was failing, choking, or in any way not fulfilling what’s expected of him. i get it, he’s a PRO, so part of what he gets paid for is to be a target for anyone with an opinion. fair enough. MY opinion is that he needs TIME to overcome a pile of injuries. i hope he gets there, because he deserves a pile of wins.OCexile02-04-2025
- I just went through the list of events in his recent riding history listed in another article (so not including his very expensive legal affair and any potential trouble at home) and it’s a half miracle he’s still riding at all. He's outfallen Roglič for sure, who always came away RELATIVELY unharmed.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- ugh. slice and dice this any way you like. if you’re one of the belgians TRYING to believe wout is going to be in the fight at de ronde and roubaix, this is an ice cold dose of reality. my opinion is that nobody — ESPECIALLY his own team — should have been fanning any expectations of wout at this point after what he’s endured.OCexile02-04-2025
- I guess when you’re high, you don’t (need to) focus on anything ;-)Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- True but things also change, Primoz will get older, Remco crashes, MJ isn’t peaking yet and people can improve their weaknesses faster than others improve their strengths, cf MVDP climbing, JV TTing.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Sorry, yeah doesn’t look great but it seems all the recent context gets completely ignored in order to make a big story out of this. Honestly, did anyone at this point really expect Wout to suddenly have recovered all his missing form? Respect to Powless but he’s no nobody, his 2022-2023 presaged something like this. Yes they messed up but it also nearly worked, impossible to know how good your opponent is going to be in such a situation unkess it’s an in form Pog or MVDP. I’d not see this as a disaster but a really bad call, there are positives, they distanced a very strong 2nd group (Mads might be saving himself though) and Wout was very close to a place he’s not heen in a long time. I’d call that progress. Only a few meters would have led to completely different headlines. Why make everything so boack and white? Wout obviously understands and it is in part everyone putting all that pressure on him that led to him making a bad call. That said, had he let his mates go for the win (no guarantee either) héd have received different criticism.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Pogi is just had 9 days of racing.
James2631802-04-2025 - I’d advise doing brain scans during max efforts, you never know, he may be having micro blackouts without realising it at the time and with a crash you tend not to remember it after either. Like when you nod off a split second while driving, or realise you can’t remember any details from the last few km.Mistermaumau02-04-2025