Belgium announces team, France still deciding
Belgian national cycling coach Carlo Bomans announced his team for the UCI World Championships held in Geelong and Melbourne, Australia, at the end of the month. The nine-rider team is built around Omega Pharma-Lotto rider Philippe Gilbert, who will be supported by four of his current teammates when they ride in Australia, two of whom are currently supporting him in the Vuelta a Espana. Gilbert and his team have been showing an impressive opening week in the Vuelta.
The remaining four riders will come from three other teams, two from the opposing team Quick Step, which might have provided three if 2005 world champion Tom Boonen hadn’t chosen not to race due to a knee injury suffered earlier in the season.
The French national team manager Laurent Jalabert is having a harder time choosing his team, since few French riders are competing in the Vuelta, an event perfectly positioned as a build-up to the Worlds.
“For many years, we’ve seen that the world champion and the majority of the top twenty were in Spain before the worlds,” said Jalabert to L’Équipe. “However, this isn’t an exact science, and all existing approaches and preparations have to be taken into account.”
French Quick Step riders Sylvain Chavanel and Jerome Pineau, who performed exceptionally in the Tour de France, have opted out of the Vuelta a Espana in favour of riding the two new Canadian ProTour one-day races, held on Friday and Sunday in the French province of Quebec. Since France does not stand in the top-ten in the UCI national rankings, it will not be allowed to bring a full team of nine riders to Australia.
“Having an extra rider is always better,” Jalabert said. “But I maintain that France has not really progressed in respect to last year. Thirteenth in the world rankings is a reflection of our level on the international scene.”
Jalabert will be attending Friday’s Grand Prix de Québec in Canada. He is expected to release his Worlds selection Monday.
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