And the countdown continues. Philippe Gilbert (Lot Soudal) is well aware that in the meantime, speculation about his chances of winning La Primavera is only going to increase.

After all, this is the year that Gilbert can join the ranks of the absolute greats of classic racing, those who have won all five monuments in their careers. Gilbert has at least three chances under his three-year contract with Lotto Soudal, but March 21, 2020, when he is 37 years old, is certainly the best of them.

But at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, a relaxed-looking Gilbert seemed to be enjoying his last few days before the media storm he knows he will surely face hits with a vengeance.

Before the second stage started in Trento, south of Valencia, the number of journalists hanging around in front of Lotto Soudal's team bus, interested in interviewing Gilbert and other riders, could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And even they were unusually and inexplicably quiet during the Cycling News interview, as a giant "crocodile" of Spanish schoolchildren, bathed in the morning sun, scuttled past. Het Nieuwsblad start ...... This is definitely not the case. [The transition from Dettunink Quickstep to Lot Soudal could not have been smoother. In the spring, we will focus on all races, starting with Valencia as well as San Remo. Even the first race of the season, the first stage in Valencia, was fortunately free of accidents.

"I wasn't sick on any of the stages, so I was able to train properly," Gilbert tells Cycling News. And yesterday [stage 1] went well. And yesterday [the first stage] went well, even if everyone was fresher and we took more risks than usual. But in the end it worked out.

"My condition is as good as it was this time last year, if you look at the numbers and stuff. So I'm happy about that as well. I'm blessed not only with the riders, but also with the staff, and everything is perfect.

Perhaps the biggest stir is the report a few weeks ago that Poggio might have to be bypassed in Sanremo this year because it is not in good enough condition for a race road. But Gilbert, who lives nearby and includes a classic springboard for the second half of the Primavera attack, insists that this is cycling's version of fake news.

"I don't know where those reports came from. I went to see the climb myself during training and it was perfectly fine," Gilbert, who staged a memorable attack on the Poggio in 2007 in one of his 15 San Remo appearances (without a single retirement), tells Cycling News. 'Honestly, I don't know what they are talking about. There is no change there at all."

But when asked if he hopes to repeat his 2007 attack when the peloton hits Italy's famous climb five weeks later, Gilbert brushes off the issue, saying, "There are many other races before that."

"I know the pressure is on and I want to do my best before San Remo.

It's also true that he had big wins beforehand, finishing third in 2008 and again in 2011, the years in which he had his best results in Sanremo.

Twelve years ago he headed to La Primavera with a victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and nine years ago he had already won at Strade Bianche. And the former world champion insists he wants to make an impact this spring before the Italian Monument.

"I want to get results now and in the next races. But cycling is not a sport where you have a 50% chance of winning because you are competing against one rider.

Another race that looms large on Gilbert's mental map for 2020 is undoubtedly the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It is Gilbert's home event, and in his memorable 2011 season, he won all the Ardennes Classics from Flèche Brabansonne to La Doyenne. Coincidentally or not, it was also his last race in the colors of the lot.

"But these races are a long way off," Gilbert insists. 'For now, I'm focusing on this week and the opportunities we have here. San Remo is a little further away. But Gilbert, like the rest of the field, knows that the clock is ticking.