Philippe Gilbert has doubts about his performance at the Giro. The Belgian is still not fully recovered from his fall in La Fleche Wallonne. "I still train with pain," Gilbert announces to Het Nieuwsblad.

The problem is a strain behind the knee. Yet he could compete on Sunday The La Philippe Gilbert sportive, a tour of his old training routes. "Yes, I can cycle. One hundred and fifty kilometers at an average speed of thirty kilometers per hour, as I did Sunday. No problem. But you can not compare that to a stage in the Tour of Italy, eh. When I want to cycle intensively, my body protests.”

Gilbert continues nonetheless with his dream of wearing the pink jersey. "My last participation in the Giro dates back to 2009. I won a stage, but was not wearing the leader's jersey in contrast to the Vuelta and the Tour. The pink jersey remains a void in my record.”