Jempy Drucker did not manage to take his first victory in his third year at the Belgian pro continental team Wanty-Groupe Gobert. However, the Luxembourger impressed again with several top 10 results. The 28-year-old was among the best 10 in no less than 21 races.

Hence, Drucker looked positively back on his season in an interview with radsport-news.com “My balance is very positive. Throughout the entire season I was near the front and I didn’t have any major injuries or illnesses so I could almost do everything according to the plan.”

Drucker first showed himself in the spring classics. He was sixth in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, ninth in Nokere-Koerse and even fourth in Dwars door Vlaanderen. “I rode well in the classics,” he said about his performances in the early part of the season.

However, Drucker had his ups and downs in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the two big cobbled classics. In De Ronde, the Wanty captain experienced “the biggest disappointment of the season. I was feeling great but a crash and a broken chain destroyed my race,” said Drucker who had to abandon the race because he was unable to get a spare bike.

However, the tide turned one week later at Paris-Roubaix. In France, Drucker claims not to have had “the same kind of good legs” as in Belgium but he was still able to hang onto the best until the finale and finished 20th in the velodrome in Roubaix. “It was a great experience to finally discover Paris-Roubaix,” he said.

After a two-week break from racing, he prepared himself for the Tour de Luxemborg with a specific preparation. That his plan was a success was put on show a little earlier at the Tour of Norway where he took his first podium spot in the final stage of the Tour of Norway.

After this, Drucker had his most successful week of the season. At the Tour du Luxembourg, he was second in the prologue and in the next two stages he was fourth and third respectively. After one day in the leader’s jersey, it was enough for the local hero to finish second overall. “I had planned a lot for that race. But I had never thought that things would be going so well,” Drucker said.

In the second half of the season, he was unable to achieve more podium results but with six top 10 results including a fifth place in the Münsterland Giro and sixth place in Paris-Tours, he still delivered notable performances.

In 2015 he wants to continue that trend but now he will do so in the WorldTour. With his strong performances, Drucker attracted the attention of the BMC team where he expected to strengthen the classics roster. “The biggest highlights for me are the cobbled races,” the BMC signing said.