34 Facts About Philippe Gilbert

Philippe Gilbert is the second person in history to win all three Ardennes classics in a single year.

In 2017, Philippe Gilbert became the third rider after Eddy Merckx and Jan Raas to win both the Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race in the same year.

Philippe Gilbert has won stages at each of the three cycling Grand Tours: three stages at the Giro d'Italia, one stage at the Tour de France, and seven stages at the Vuelta a Espana.

Philippe Gilbert celebrated his retirement in Valkenburg aan de Geul where he became world champion and won four Amstel Gold Races.

Philippe Gilbert was honoured with a mural in the caves of the Cauberg.

Philippe Gilbert committed to serve world peace through sport by joining Peace and Sport.

Philippe Gilbert took stages in the Four Days of Dunkirk and the Tour Mediterraneen.

Philippe Gilbert started 2008 by winning the King of the Mountains competition at the Tour Down Under and the overall classification as well as two stages of the Vuelta a Mallorca.

Philippe Gilbert later won Omloop Het Volk for the second time in his career after a solo attack with almost 50 kilometres to go.

Philippe Gilbert took his first stage in a Grand Tour by winning the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia and won a stage and the overall classification of the Ster Elektrotoer.

Philippe Gilbert won the first stage of the Tour of Belgium.

Philippe Gilbert followed up two stage wins in the Vuelta a Espana with victories in the Giro del Piemonte and the Giro di Lombardia, repeating his 2009 wins in both races.

In 2011, Philippe Gilbert won the Montepaschi Strade Bianche, a race including 70 kilometres of gravel roads.

Philippe Gilbert then had a quadruple consecutive win: first he won the Brabantse Pijl, then he repeated as winner of the Amstel Gold Race, breaking free on the Cauberg.

Philippe Gilbert thus became the second rider, after Davide Rebellin in 2004, to win the three Ardennes classics in a single year.

Philippe Gilbert lost that jersey in the team time trial the next day but still held the green and polka dot jerseys after stage two.

Philippe Gilbert followed that performance two days later at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal by finishing third, despite stating that he felt "no pressure" after his Quebec City victory.

Philippe Gilbert eventually closed the season well ahead in the UCI World Tour rankings, with 718 points to the 584 points of his closest competitor, Cadel Evans.

Philippe Gilbert won 18 races in the season, more than any other cyclist in the professional peloton.

Philippe Gilbert was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011.

Philippe Gilbert missed out on his goal to bring Evans in yellow to Paris and his best placing in a Tour de France stage was fourth.

Philippe Gilbert lost both of the Belgian National Championship titles he held, finishing third in the Belgian National Time Trial Championships.

On 26 August 2012, Philippe Gilbert finally managed his first victory of the season by winning the ninth stage of the Vuelta a Espana after breaking away together with Rodriguez.

On 23 September 2012, Philippe Gilbert won the UCI Elite Men's Road Race world championship and the rainbow jersey, ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Alejandro Valverde by producing a massive surge on the final climb of the Cauberg.

In 2013, Philippe Gilbert headed towards the World Championships without a single win in the rainbow jersey, in danger of his first winless season since turning professional in 2003.

Philippe Gilbert started the Vuelta a Espana hoping that the competition would, for the second successive year, kick-start his season.

In 2014, Philippe Gilbert picked up his previous form when in the spring he won his second Brabantse Pijl and his third Amstel Gold Race.

Philippe Gilbert finished third at Brabantse Pijl, seconds after his teammate Ben Hermans.

Philippe Gilbert scored his first victory of the season at the Giro d'Italia, besting the lead group on a sharp incline at the end of Stage 12.

Philippe Gilbert repeated on Stage 18, where he participated in the early break.

Philippe Gilbert finished second in the Dwars door Vlaanderen behind teammate Yves Lampaert.

Lampaert attacked with 7.5 kilometres remaining and ultimately won the race by 39 seconds ahead of Philippe Gilbert, who led home Lutsenko and Durbridge in a sprint for second place.

In Stage 16 of the Tour de France, Philippe Gilbert was involved in a crash in a downhill section where he went over a wall, suffering lacerations and fracturing his kneecap.

Philippe Gilbert climbed back onto his bike and rode the remaining 57 kilometres to the finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon, earning him the Most Combative Rider award but ending his tour.