Greg van Avermaet is currently in the process of leading BMC in his first Classics campaign as the team’s leader. He has been effective already with third in the Omloop but was fairly anonymous in E3 and gent-Wevelgem.

He is ranked as an outsider for Flanders this year but says that that plays to his advantage.

“I think I didn’t have the great result, like top 3 or something,” Van Avermaet said on by way of his explanation for his relatively long odds. “But I feel like I’m able to follow the good guys. Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m not up there with the bookmakers because I was already a lot of times in the top five with the bookmakers and I never won the race. Maybe now it’s a little different and it’s not a bad position to be in.”

“The pressure is there, but it was there last year too,” he said. “It feels a bit better now, actually, because all the support is for me. It’s a nice feeling to have a team working for me.”

He was still tenth at E3 but crashed out of Gent-Wevelgem and said that it took him two days to recover from it. But he is ready now to follow all the moves in Flanders.

“I think Fabian is one of the strongest guys and when he goes on the last time on the Kwaremont it will be hard to follow,” Van Avermaet said. “But it’s hard to say now, you have to see in the race.”

Does he consider doing what Jurgen Roelandts did last year and go into an early break away?

“It was a really good move but it’s not so easy to make it,” said Van Avermaet, who said he would have tried to join Roelandts had he not found himself boxed in. “I know the moment when he went but if you hesitate five seconds, it’s gone. It’s not like someone comes with a sign and says ‘this is the moment.’”

“Maybe we could work something out but it’s easy to say that and a lot harder to do,” he said of a partnership with Sep Vanmarcke against Sagan, Boonen and co.

His best performances have been since the route’s finish was moved to Oudenaarde and he is even happier with the tweaks to the 2014 route.

“The last lap is a little bit bigger and more open than last year, a bit more attractive. There are some other climbs after the second time up the Kwaremont,” he said. “I think it’s a nice change. They make it hard but there’s a chance to make some attacks and I like the new parcours compared to last year.”