After opting to skip Gent-Wevelgem due to illness, Ian Stannard of Sky says he is feeling better after completing the Three Days of De Panne.

"It was more of a precaution, really," Stannard told Cyclingnews in De Panne on Tuesday. "It was a cold day and there was going to be hard racing. I felt it coming on, and if I'd raced there I probably won't be racing here. It was a precaution, but it was a tough decision to miss it."

Stannard will do his best in Flanders, but leadership of the tam there is likely to be given to Michal Kwiatkowski and Geraint Thomas, with Stannard and Luke Rowe to lead next week in Roubaix.

"Kwiatkowski showed the other day what he can do on these climbs, which is awesome and gives us more strength. Geraint is coming in too and he really wants to go for Flanders, so we're going to have a good strong team to support those guys," he said. "Luke was up there on Sunday as well, so that bodes well for this weekend."

Despite the team still not having won a Monument, they have improved in the Classics year on year, winning two Omloops and E3s in the last three seasons.

"We're all grown up and we're maturing. We've been learning the races a bit more every year and just slowly improving," Stannard said. "I guess every year you approach it slightly differently, too. You see what works and what doesn't work and you keep refining it every year. That's starting to come to fruition a little bit and now we're performing."