CCC team leader Greg Van Avermaat told Belgian media that he has slightly delayed the start of winter training in order to be fresh for this season's spring classics, so that he will be in better condition for the Tokyo Olympics. He said he hopes to defend his road race title.

The 2017 Paris-Roubaix winner noted that he was consistent throughout the season, although one of his three wins was the Grand Prix Cycliste de Monreal World Tour event, though by his standards it was a relatively lean 2019.

"It was a consistent year. Some people say I had a bad year, but that's not true at all," Van Avermaat told Sporza. I've had a good year," Van Avermaat said Monday from a training camp on the Spanish island of Tenerife. In addition to three wins in Montreal, a stage win at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, and second overall at the Tour de Yorkshire, he was second at the Omloop Het Newsblad and Classica San Sebastián, and second at the E3 Binkbank Classic and GP Cycliste de Québec, and third in the E3 BinckBank Classic and GP.

His team announced in November that Van Avermaert would begin winter training later than usual and rest his bike for six weeks after his last race of 2019, the World Championship road race. This is to prevent the 34-year-old from peaking too early in the season and already being fatigued before the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in early April, which Van Avermaat finished 10th and 12th, respectively, last year.

"I won in Valencia and did very well in the Tour of Oman," he said.

"Looking back after that, I guess you could say I got into form a little too quickly.

"But that was probably due to circumstances," Van Avermaet continued. 'It was a new team, and I wanted to get good results right away.'

"So I'm going to get in shape a little later in the year and peak a little bit more for Flanders and Roubaix. I'm always consistent, which will be good for the first race anyway, but I want to be a bit fresher for the biggest classics," said the 2017 Roubaix winner.

Juan Avermaat also told Sporza.be that his other major goal for the 2020 season is to defend his road race title at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

"Having experienced something like this [the Olympic title] and having the chance to experience it again in four years, you want to be at the start and do everything you can to get a good result.

"The course is similar to Rio," Van Avermaet said of the hilly road race course. 'It may not be perfect for my shape, but it could accomplish something.'

Van Avermaat will turn 35 in May, but said he believes he still has what it takes to compete in classics and one-day races against youngsters like Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma).

"I'm not going to be a good driver.

"It's a generation that wants to race and it motivates me. It's a generation that wants to race and it motivates them," Van Avermaet said. If you are a proven rider, you want to prove that you can do as well as them or beat them.

." He joked, "It's always nice to be able to push them and I hope I can do that this year. 'I want to show that I'm not worn out yet. I'm almost 35 years old. But it's nice to be able to race against Van Art and Van der Pol."