PARIS - Commonwealth Games champion Geraint Thomas will find himself a marked man over the next two weeks as the peloton tackles the Tour of Flanders on Sunday and then Paris-Roubaix a week later.
Geraint Thomas crosses the finish line at the 58th edition of the 'E3 Prijs Vlaanderen Harelbeke' cycling race on March 27, 2015, in Harelbeke
With perennial favourites Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara out injured, both Flanders and Roubaix will be considered the most open they have been in years.
Over the last 10 years, the two races have been won by either Boonen or Cancellara 13 times -- and by someone else just seven times.
But Boonen dislocated his collarbone at Paris-Nice in early March while Cancellara fractured two vertebrae in his back when crashing during the E3 Harelbeke race on Friday.
With the heavyweight pair missing, Thomas won E3 and then took third at Gent-Wevelgem, behind Italian Luca Paolini and Niki Terpstra of the Netherlands.
Those two races came just two days apart and for Thomas to be still there fighting for victory despite the brutal conditions that made Gent-Wevelgem such an enthralling and chaotic race spoke wonders of his strength and form.
Only four other riders managed to take top 10 finishes in both races but Sep Vanmarcke, Alexander Kristoff, Jurgen Roelandts and Daniel Oss were not in contention at the business end of either.
Vanmarcke was part of the six men who contested the victory at Gent-Wevelgem but when Italy's Paolini attacked 6km from home, the Belgian did not have the legs to fight to the end.
He ended up sixth and 40 seconds down, whereas Thomas had the strength to join Terpstra in trying to hunt down Paolini.
"I'm happy to be on the podium again. Obviously it would have been nice to go for the win but it's hard when you're coming into the final and everyone's attacking," said Thomas after his third placed Gent-Wevelgem finish.
"People were looking at me a bit after my win on Friday. That's what it felt like.
"When Paolini went it was a good move for him but we all looked at each other."
- man to watch -
Having finished eighth at Flanders last year and seventh at Roubaix, the Welshman will surely come to the start line of both races as the man to watch.
It has been an incredible rise to prominence at the Spring Classics for Thomas, who first announced his potential in 2011 when he was 10th at Flanders and second at the semi-classic Dwars door Vlaanderen.
In 2013 he was fourth at both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 while last year he really kicked on.
As well as his high finishes at Flanders and Roubaix and his Commonwealth title, he was third at E3.
This year his form has been better than ever as he also came fifth overall at the week-long Paris-Nice.
One of Thomas' problems in recent years has been a propensity to fall, although he denies that it comes from not being a good bike handler.
He hit the deck again on Sunday but so did many people. He said his landing was soft and he doesn't think it will hamper his preparation for the two 'Monument' races coming up.
"The grass was softer that the tarmac! It was unbelievable. The gusts were incredible. It was hard enough just trying to stay on the bike," he said.
"I'll rest up now. Have a good massage, eat well, stay in bed and put my feet up until Sunday."
Come Sunday he will have Terpstra, last year's Roubaix winner, Vanmarcke, who was top four in both Flanders and Roubaix in 2014, and Stijn Vandenbergh for company at the very least.
Terpstra and Vandenbergh's Etixx-Quick Step teammate Zdenek Stybar should feature too, as will Peter Sagan and maybe even Thomas's compatriot and Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins.
A top sprinter who can negotiate the cobbles and short climbs such as John Degenkolb or Kristoff may also be in the mix, but Thomas will still be the man on everyone's lips.