Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert to lead Team Belgium at the World Championships 2012
Belgium is sending a powerful squad at the UCI Road World Championships under the leadership of Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert.
Both the cyclists are well known for their tremendous performances in the past, and are pretty much capable of winning the rainbow jersey.
Boonen is having a terrific current season with several victories in his bag, he currently holds the third overall position after the UCI World Tour Individual rankings with 410 UCI points to his credit.
He is 194 points behind the British rider, Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky Procycling who is leading the category with Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Team Katusha at the second spot (592 points).
Boonen’s wins in the current season include stages and overall victories at the Tour of Qatar and World Port Classics 2012.
He occupied the first podium position at numerous one-day races including Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Harelbeke and Paris-Brussels 2012.
Philippe Gilbert on the other hand, had a slow start to the season but last year UCI World Tour’s overall winner has found the right form just ahead of the World Championships.
His only two admirable performances before the Vuelta a Espana were a third place finish at the La Fleche Wallonne and sixth at the Amstel Gold Race 2012.
Gilbert rode brilliantly at the Vuelta a Espana and succeeded at the ninth and the nineteenth stages of the race.
The selection is made by Carlo Bomans and he noted that the teams are built around Tom and Philippe to ensure the side’s best performance at the coming race.
"Like every year, we are going to win," he told Sporza. be.
Boonen will be assisted by Stijn Vandenbergh while Gilbert nominated Kevin De Weert to help him during the coming race.
Team Garmin-Sharp’s Johan Vansummeren is included in the side in place of Johan Vansummeren. "Johan is a worker in the pure sense of the word, perhaps the only one in the Belgian squad," Bomans said.
Vanendert was disappointed after being excluded from the side, “I had my sights on the World Championships, and I have done everything I could. This is a serious blow," Vanendert said to Sporza.
The Belgian squad of 9 men (including reserves) for the UCI Road World Championships 2012 is as under:
Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
Gianni Meersman (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin - Sharp
Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
Tags: