After his two récent victories at the Het Volk and the Grand Prix of Samyn while riding Fusion 2 Road Tubeless Tires

Hutchinson : You won the Het Volk with panache. Almost unnoticed by the public was the fact that you rode the race on tubeless tires. Is this new ?

Philippe Gilbert : Yes, I’d tested the tires in training a few days before the Het Volk. I liked them, especially on the cobbles I found them efficient and very comfortable.

- The tires must have felt good enough to use them again three days later to take a another victory on them ?

- At the GP of Samyn the roads were bad and I felt good about using Tubeless

- Do you know that the Tubeless tires are manufactured a few kilometers from hère ?

- Yes, I’ve passed in front of the factory. If I had the time, it would have been nice to visit. Perhaps next time.

- So, in the end tubulars or tubeless ?

This dépends on the conditions. We’ve been amazed by the Tubeless tires. We will test them again in Flanders at the 3 Days of the Panne, The Tour of Flanders, and Ghent-Wevelgem.

The team racing this week at Tirreno-Adriatico is also testing Tubeless. It will be interesting to get together and share their newest impressions of tubeless tires.

After a pre-race reconnaissance of the Het Volk parcours using Fusion 2 Road Tubeless tires, Martial Gayant, director sportif for FDJ gave the go-ahead for the team to use them in the race. The result? Top podium place by Philippe Gilbert in a sensational solo ride. Gilbert got away 49 km from the finish and never looked back. 

The Fusion 2 tires performed impeccably on the cobbled sections thanks to the fact that you can run them at a lower more comfortable pressure. It was Gilbert’s second win in this first semi-classic of the season.