The BMC Racing Team revised its roster for the Tour of Flanders Thursday, replacing Philippe Gilbert and Taylor Phinney with Adam Blythe and Klaas Lodewyck.

Gilbert is suffering from a minor cold that he picked up at Paris-Nice, while Phinney experienced pain above his right knee during Gent-Wevelgem last week. BMC Racing Team directeur sportif, John Lelangue, said the roster changes will not significantly affect the team's strategy for the 256.2 km race on Sunday. "We still have a good team with guys like Thor Hushovd and Greg Van Avermaet, who are our main leaders," he said. "But we have also seen in E3-Harelbeke that Daniel Oss is very strong. And we have a good back-up team with Marcus Burghardt, Manuel Quinziato and Michael Schär and two teammates in Blythe and Lodewyck who were already prepared to race. So we are still confident that we will be there in the final."

Gilbert said he wants to be healthy and on-form in time for his major objective: the Ardennes classics next month. "With my current condition, I know I cannot be successful at Flanders," the world road champion said. "I want to give everything for the Ardennes classics, so I have decided to change my program and go to Vuelta al País Vasco to prepare. I need a stage race where I can go hard on the climbs. It's always better for me to race than train because you can go much deeper in a race." Phinney said he wants to be 100 percent for next weekend's Paris-Roubaix, his goal race for the spring. "I'm confident if I stay at home in Italy and have a couple more days of recovery, I can be back at 100 percent for Paris-Roubaix," he said. "I could probably push through the injury but I wouldn't be at my best. I would have to ride conservatively and that's not the right position I want to be in for the team."

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