A few weeks ago, Greg Van Avermaet vented his frustration after Philippe Gilbert had talked about doing the Flemish classics. Now Van Avermaet admits that he also has ambitions in the Ardennes classics.

After several years as a luxury domestique, Greg Van Avermaet was finally given a clear leadership role for the Flemish classics in 2014. He paid back his BMC team for the confidence when he finished second in the Tour of Flanders.

A few weeks ago, Philippe Gilbert talked about returning to the Flemish races after he had dedicated himself fully to the Ardennes races in 2014. Van Avermaet vented his frustration at the prospect of again having to share the leadership role and last week it came out that Gilbert will again skip the cobbled races where Van Avermaet will be the leader.

Now Van Avermaet reveals that he actually wants to test himself in Gilbert's terrain in the future.

"I still want to try," he told Het Nieuwsblad when asked about Liege-Bastogne-Liege. "It's a race that I can probably win. But the big problem is that I need to lose weight. Weight that I need on the Flemish hills. It is very difficult to combine those two."

Therefore the Flemish races will again be the goal in 2015. He is convenced that he can again be a contender in the Tour of Flanders.

"Boonen and Cancellara will be there, but they will no longer better than me," he said. "It will be a very open race. Last season I was the best rider in Omloop and De Ronde and was only narrowly beaten .Hopefully I won't finish second again."