Philippe Gilbert is cheering the return of John Degenkolb, who has joined the Germans at Lotto Soudal. Degenkolb joins the Belgian team from Dettunink-Quickstep and Trek-Segafredo, respectively.

Degenkolb's time with Trek-Segafredo was marked by several moments of success, including a dramatic and inspiring stage win at the 2018 Tour de France, but the German rolled back the years and Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Ghent-Wevelgem and could not win any of the classics to be added to his collection.

In 2019, he finished second behind Alexander Kristoff in the Belgian one-day race. Gilbert, who is aiming for back-to-back Monument titles in Milan-San Remo in 2020, supported Degenkolb's return to the top of the sport, pointing to the German's head-on collision with a car while training with several of his Sunweb teammates in 2016.

"I believe in him and a lot of people forget that there was that accident where he was hit by a car," Gilbert told Cycling News and other reporters at Lot Soudal's training camp in Majorca.

"Sometimes I see comments that he is done, but they forget what happened. I think he had a lot of surgeries, he lost confidence, and the team he was with didn't help. I don't think he lost his ability or his potential. When he won a stage in the Tour, he showed that he is still capable. I want to do a lot of races with him and I want him to win more."

Gilbert left the team in 2011, moving from BMC Racing to Lotto-Soudal. Gilbert left BMC Racing for Lotto Soudal in 2011. In addition to the veteran Belgian, the team includes Degenkolb, Tim Wellens, and Caleb Yuan.

"Degenkolb has a winning record and Wellens has race wins and features. We are going to start the opening weekend with a really strong team. It will be a similar situation with Dečuninck-Quickstep.

Gilbert left Deceuninck-Quick Step after three successful seasons, including victories at the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. He initially wanted to stay with Deceuninck-QuickStep, but when team owner Patrick Lefebvre failed to offer him a two-year contract, Gilbert sought greater security with another team.

"I wanted a two-year deal, but Patrick didn't want to give me a contract that long. Then I was talking to John Lerangue and we talked about a three-year deal, and three years is really long, but it gives you a chance to win more races."

"I wanted a two-year deal, but Patrick didn't want that long.

Comparisons between Lotto Soudal and Detunink-Quickstep will dominate the next few months as the season heads into the Classics.

"They've changed too. I left, other players left. It's different now. Maybe another team will dominate. One team is always a little better than the other, but you never know who it will be in 2020. It could be Bora, it could be us, it could be Jumbo Visma.