After BMC announced earlier this week that Greg Van Avermaet had signed a new deal with the team, more and more speculation has grown suggesting that Philippe Gilbert’s tenure with the team is coming to an end.

"Well it’s a tough one because I’ve not seen him," BMC’s General Manager, Jim Ochowicz, told Cyclingnews when asked about Gilbert’s contract situation. "I was in Belgium and I saw him getting ready for De Brabantse Pijl and that prep week. Then he had the incident and I didn’t want to bother him during Amstel because he was trying to get himself into the race. Then he left because he couldn’t race so we’ve not had any real contact. We’ll do that soon. We both need to sit down and talk about it."

Gilbert started well in Dubai and won the Vuelta a Murcia, but since then, he has suffered illness, injury and bad performances.

"We don’t have anyone who we necessarily want to leave the team but every rider is different in terms of how they are progressing and what the situation is. I don’t have an absolute answer. I want to talk to him and see what’s going on in his head too."

Gilbert has been at BMC since 2012, winning five Grand Tour stages, Amstel Gold Race, Brabantse Pijl and a World Road Race title as his biggest successes.