At 37 years of age, realism against younger rivals is not a bad thing. Paris-Roubaix winner Greg Van Avermaet has switched his goals and priorities for 2023.

Instead of stepping steadily toward the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, Van Avermaat has decided to set his sights on the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 25. And after that, che sera, sera.

Van Avermaet is a two-time winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and was third last year. The result was one of the highlights of a difficult 2022 season for the former Olympic champion and AG2R Citroën team leader.

Van Avermaert looks back on 2022 and is pleased to be back in the Tour of Oman, one of the warm-up races for the Classic, after a solid winter training session.

"The team wasn't here last year, so I had no choice, but I think I've been here 10 times," Van Avermaat, who won a stage in Oman in 2018 to take the two-day overall lead, told Cycling News before stage two.

"I like the fact that there are a lot of hard finals and the weather is not too hot or too cold. I have almost no jet lag, I'm more relaxed than at other European events, and it's well organized, so the classics after this one always go well."

Juan Avermaat will return to Europe and will soon be back in the lineup for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Belgian Opening Weekend.

"It's always good to get a good result there because it gives you a little bit of confidence.

"We've had good results in the past and there's a lot of media attention for the first big race of the year.

Rather than dreaming of a repeat of the spectacular 2017 season in which he dominated the Cobblestone Classic, Van Avermaat has his sights set on the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

"It suits me very well. After that, in Flanders and Roubaix, there are strong players coming," he admitted.

Van Avermaat is in a contract year and will turn 38 on May 17 after his performance in the Classic.

Van Avermaet has no plans to retire yet and hopes to continue running for two or three more seasons. Contract negotiations with teams will take place in the summer. For now, he is looking at the short to medium term and hopes to take advantage of a solid winter training program.

"I'm sure I did a lot of training in Spain. After the first team camp in Spain, I stayed in Spain for Christmas and New Year with my family.

"I had a little bronchitis after the camp, but I'm getting back on track now. Hopefully I can stay healthy and we'll see how it goes."

The next two months will show van Avermaet the way to 2023 and beyond.

"In general, the Classics are the most important time of the year for me and I want to do well there.

"I usually go to the Tour and it's on my schedule. Last year it was the same,"

"- even though I wasn't selected in the end - "but you don't know until the last moment.