Philippe Gilbert and his Lotto-Soudal team announced that Gilbert will miss the cobbled classic due to worsening knee pain.

Gilbert fractured his kneecap in the opening stage of the Tour de France on August 29. He described it as a "non-tubercular fracture" and was not in much pain at first, returning to training immediately and competing in the recent Tour de Luxembourg.

However, as Gilbert improved on the BinckBank Tour, the pain worsened, forcing him to abandon his participation in the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix later this month.

Gilbert is currently recuperating at his home in Monaco and hopes to recover in time for the Vuelta a España on October 20.

"My first priority is to make a full recovery. I have goals for next season and maybe even this season. I hope to still be able to compete in the Tour of Spain, but that doesn't matter yet. The important thing now is to heal completely," Gilbert said, explaining that the pain in his knee has been increasing lately.

"I got back on the bike right after my crash on August 29. My rehab was going well and I still had motivation and morale.

"I resumed at the Tour de Luxembourg and competed in two more one-day races, but I was still in pain. This pain became more pronounced on the first stage of the BinckBank Tour. He realized that he would not be able to give his best in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. These races are even more taxing on the body and the body has to be 200% ready."

John Degenkolb is currently leading Lotto-Soudal in the Classics, but did not race the Tour de France after crashing on the first stage and finishing outside the time limit.

Tim Wellens will also target the Classics, as Lotto Soudal has selected Thomas de Ghent for the Giro d'Italia.

Gilbert will return to the Classics in 2021.

"Philippe of course has all our support. We made this decision together yesterday. What is important for us is that he recovers fully and comes back at 100%. John Lerangue, team manager of Lotto Soudal, said, "The objective now is for Philip to race in 2021 with the ambition of going to the classics for which he is well known."