Philippe Gilbert has past the peak of his career, but within sight of his retirement later in 2022, he has returned to his winning ways with a strong set of performances at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque where he was able to take a stage win, followed by the overall classification.
After the disappointment of missing out on yesterday’s stage, I am very happy with this overall win. I had some stress in the beginning, because there was a tricky local circuit in the final, with a lot of turns and a constant battle for position," Gilbert said the end of the day.
After winning the third stage with an uphill finish at Mont-Saint-Éloi, Gilbert put himself in an advantageous position in the overall classification, and at the queen stage to Cassel he rode alongside the winning group to take over the lead of the race - as stage winner Gianni Vermeersch had lost time the previous days.
All he had to do was to stay with the peloton on the final day and hope that Oliver Naesen and Jake Stewart would miss on bonus seconds - which was the case. Hence Gilbert took his first stage-race win since the 2017 Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde.
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This week also saw the first wins of the Belgian puncheur since returning to Lotto Soudal. The Belgian team is in need of UCI points, and this comes as a boost to the team's chances of mantaining their World Tour level. “It makes me very happy. I have had two difficult years with a lot of troubles and tough times. But I want to end my career on the highest level. I have never forgotten what you have to do to get there," he said. "The Classics were difficult for me, because I was never able to do my training as planned, due to illness. Here, in better weather and in a shorter race, I was able to get the win. Thanks also to the great team over here.”
He will now have time to recover to the second half of the season. As for his plans for the rest of the season, he details: “First I am getting married, later this month. But for the races afterwards I am very ambitious. I want to win some more.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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