Yesterday at Il Lombardia was Philippe Gilbert’s last race as a BMC rider. Bringing an end to a successful five years with the team. The Belgian champ, moving to Etixx-QuickStep for 2017, says the race was not emotional for him, just business as usual.

“I’ve got good memories of my five years at BMC. I won some good races and enjoyed lots of good moments,” Gilbert told Cyclingnews.

 “Today is not a time for emotions; it's not going to be an emotional farewell - not at all. It’s my last race with BMC but there isn’t a chance to get emotional. It’s a last race, a last hard race.” 

Gilbert joined BMC after a magical 2011 that saw him win all three Ardennes Classics, as well as take lots of top results including the Yellow Jersey at the Tour and the UCI Individual Classification. During his five years, he won the Worlds, three Vuelta stages, two Giro stages, the last Tour of Beijing, Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold. He took 19 wins over the five years all in.

Leaving behind one Classics star at BMC in Greg Van Avermaet, Gilbert will link up with a legend at the Belgian team in Tom Boonen, a rider he has nothing but praise for.

“I'm glad I signed to Etixx. Tom is an exceptional rider; he’s fast, clever but still rides to win. Rather than waiting for a sprint in the velodrome, he the guy who went clear alone at 60km from the finish of Roubaix. That’s class. I’m excited about being able to train together. In fact I’m looking forward to the winter and 2017.”