Stannard: I want to be a lot more consistent this year

If Ian Stannard wants two things for his 2019 season, it’s a bit more luck than in 2018, a lot more consistency, and “trying not to puncture.” If all those factors come good, then the Team Sky rider could well be on track for some more top results in the Classics.

A former double winner of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Stannard’s Paris-Roubaix rides in the last two years – a race in which he has taken a podium finish, back in 2016 when he also notched up a third place in E3 Harelbeke – have been blighted by punctures.

But on the plus side for 2019, the 31-year-old is already feeling in good shape, he tells Cyclingnews at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, and on track for the Het Nieuwsblad. He won this race in 2014, too, ahead of Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team), and in 2015, ahead of Niki Terpstra (Direct Énergie) - neither of whom are what you’d call low-profile classics racers.

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Stannard subsequently had two uneven years in the 2017 and 2018 Spring Classics, though, so he is taking things, “race by race. After Het Niuewsblad, I’ll see what I do.

“I’m not really sure what the [Sky] team is for Nieuwsblad, Dylan [Van Baarle] and Luke [Rowe] will be there, I’m not sure about Gianni [Moscon]. Either way, we’re going to have a good team.

“It’s always good to start well, everybody wants to go there and race to win, so that’s the plan. The Nieuwsblad route has changed a little but it’s still hard racing at the end of the day.”

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