Philippe Gilbert to ride at Tour of Qatar 2012 as his first race with Team BMC
Philippe Gilbert is currently the best professional cyclist according to the 2011 UCI individual rankings, as he secured a total number of 698 points. The cyclist is currently training with Team BMC in Spain to start the coming season.
Philippe will start the 2012 season with the Tour of Qatar in February and will finally ride at the European race, Tour du Haut-Var.
Gilbert started his professional career with Team FDJ in 2003 and stayed with the team for a period of six years.
He then joined Team Lotto in 2009 and recently signed up with Team BMC for the 2012 season. Gilbert could not ride at the Tour of Qatar 2011 as his team, Omega Pharma-Lotto, was not invited to the event.
The Belgian’s world class performance in the 2011 season earned him the first spot at the UCI ranking, as he managed to defeat Cadel Evans with a lead of 124 points.
Evans finished second whereas Alberto Contador secured the third position with a total number of 471 points.
Philippe Gilbert was also declared as the best Male Road Rider of the year as per the survey conducted by Cyclingnews.com.
His 18 victories throughout the year earned him 11,536 votes whereas Cadel Evans managed to achieve only 4,547 votes.
The two top cyclists will ride along side each other and will start their new season with Team BMC.
Philippe stated, "I'll be very happy to start the Tour alongside Cadel, who will be wearing number one and setting off with the ambition of winning again. That's going to be a great experience”.
He further added, "I did a Vuelta a España with Cadel in 2009, which he almost won. In the end, he was third. I helped him to the best of my ability and that's certainly what I want to do in 2012." Gilbert has also shown interest in riding at the 2012 World
Championships.
BMC’s Team Managed commented on the cyclist as he said, “For him that is the best preparation for the Flemish opening weekend. He’s sure to ride Omloop, but we’ll only decide about Kuurne after the race on the Saturday”.
Gilbert will move to Italy in March 2012 to prepare for the Milan-San Remo, along with riding at the Tirreno-Adriatico and La Classicissima.
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