Perhaps the rider who deserves a big one-day win the most is Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing Team. The 30 year old Belgian has been so close on so many occasions, and says that his failure to win a big race in 2015 means his season wasn’t good enough, despite admitting it was the best year of his career so far.

“For me it was the best season so far,” Van Avermaet tells Cyclingnews and other media at BMC’s winter camp in Denia, Spain. “Last year was already really good – I was good in every race – and this year I stepped a little bit up again. In every race that suited me I was there and performing well.”

Here is the 2015 Tour de France stage winner’s recent record in big races in recent years: At the Tour of Flanders, he has placed 4th, 2nd, and 3rd. At Paris-Roubaix, 4th and 3rd. He has clocked up second place finishes at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche to boot. It’s something he is desperate to correct. He was also third in the Belgian Road Race this year. He is desperate to strike it big in 2016.

“For me I have a lot of ambition and I will not be happy if I’m not winning Classics next year,” Van Avermaet says. “Because you’re an athlete you want to have big wins, and for the moment it’s not happening. I’m pretty happy with my year, but you always want to go for the best. And for a Classics rider like me to finish a year without a Classics win is not 100 per cent.”

The rider thinks all he is missing is a little bit of luck, which all Classics winners admit is key to taking out a big one.

“I feel that I have it totally in me, that I’m strong enough to win big races. I’ve proved that, but in the big Classics there’s always something that doesn’t go well. You don’t have too many chances – only like four or five in a year – so I think it’s just a bit of luck.”