Philippe Gilbert, winner of two races in 2016, has confirmed at the Tour of Luxembourg that 2016 will be his last in BMC colours. The Belgian will bring to a close a five year spell with the American team.

"I have spent five great years at BMC and achieved some excellent results," he told Cyclingnews. "I'm in contact with certain teams but nothing will be communicated before the 1st of August.”

Gilbert, 33, is looking for a team that will back him in both the Ardennes Classics and some of the cobbled Classics, which BMC refused to do with the presence of Greg Van Avermaet on the team.

"I still want to be able to perform at the highest level. I'm only 33 and I still feel capable of great things, especially in the Classics. The Tour of Flanders remains a big objective for me."

Lars Boom is set to leave Astana, freeing up cobbled leadership for Gilbert, and the funds would be available if Vincenzo Nibali leaves the team. One spanner in the works is that Peter Sagan is likely to also be on Astana’s wish list, and he would lead the cobbled Classics team before Gilbert.

Gilbert also confirmed he will finish the race in Luxembourg before doing Tour de Suisse and Tour de Pologne before hopefully making the Belgian Olympic team.