Philippe Gilbert detained by police
Philippe Gilbert, the overwhelming favourite to win the Elite men’s World Champion title at the UCI Road World Championships (on October 3 in Melbourne and Geelong, Australia), has gotten into some trouble with the local police.
Gilbert and several other riders from the Belgian national team were stopped by the local police after a driver reported the group of cyclists for traffic violations along Great Ocean Road. The team's training was interrupted for approximately 15 minutes
while officers looked over the identification of Belgian team director Dirk De Wolf and requested an explanation of their training route.
“It doesn't matter if they are the world champion [s], the law is the law and they've got to comply with it,” reported Sergeant Shayne Coles to the
Geelong Advertiser.
The riders were let off with a warning. Apparently the violation in question was cycling two abreast, therefore preventing traffic from safely passing. The riders were inconvenienced in an effort to show that the local police were serious about enforcing
the respect of their traffic laws, whether the violating cyclist is the favourite to win or not.
The Belgian national team for the World Championships road race mostly consists of riders from Gilbert’s own team, Omega Pharma-Lotto. The manager of the Belgian ProTour outfit, Marc Sergeant, supports Gilbert as a favourite, saying that the team leader
has come into his form just in time to peak in Geelong.
"I was a little surprised, because before the Vuelta [a Espana], during a meeting, he said that he was unsure of his condition,” said Sergeant. “But a few days later, he put in a great performance in his first opportunity to get the stage victory, before
defending the red jersey as race leader beautifully."
The last Belgian World Champion was Tom Boonen in 2005, who is racing the Circuit Franco-Belge after taking time off for a knee surgery, which has left him out of form to compete in the Championships.
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