Gilbert to start season at Tour Down Under
Category: Cycling
Philippe Gilbert will be the leader of BMC Racing Team line-up at the 2013 Santos Tour Down Under in January. He earlier considered starting the season at the Tour de San Luis or Qatar, but the Australian WorldTour event will be good for him.
He hasn't started the Tour Down Under since 2008 when he was racing for Française des Jeux. That year he won the King of the Mountains classification. Four years earlier, he won a stage,plus won the Young Rider classification and finished fourth overall.
"My winter training and preparation so far has been perfect," Gilbert said. "I saw the parcours on the Internet and it looks good for me. So I will go there with some ambition and we also bring a great team. But for the first race, it's hard to know how you will really feel."
Gilbert will be joined by Alessandro Ballan, Martin Kohler, Klaas Lodewyck, Amaël Moinard, Steve Morabito and Danilo Wyss in the Australian race.
Fabio Baldato will help the riders as much as possible in the Australian race. He says he would like to start the season in the best way possible. A good start can hopefully give confidence for the rest of the season.
"This will be an exciting race for us, with two strong riders like Philippe and Alessandro [Ballan] and a great team around them. I know from racing in the Tour Down Under myself as a rider in 2008 about Willunga Hill and the challenges it presents," he said.
"It's important to get off to a good start in the WorldTour races, so of course we'll want to achieve some good results in Australia. The riders will have a training camp together next month and then it will be important for them not to take too much of a holiday before we resume again in January."
He hasn't started the Tour Down Under since 2008 when he was racing for Française des Jeux. That year he won the King of the Mountains classification. Four years earlier, he won a stage,plus won the Young Rider classification and finished fourth overall.
"My winter training and preparation so far has been perfect," Gilbert said. "I saw the parcours on the Internet and it looks good for me. So I will go there with some ambition and we also bring a great team. But for the first race, it's hard to know how you will really feel."
Gilbert will be joined by Alessandro Ballan, Martin Kohler, Klaas Lodewyck, Amaël Moinard, Steve Morabito and Danilo Wyss in the Australian race.
Fabio Baldato will help the riders as much as possible in the Australian race. He says he would like to start the season in the best way possible. A good start can hopefully give confidence for the rest of the season.
"This will be an exciting race for us, with two strong riders like Philippe and Alessandro [Ballan] and a great team around them. I know from racing in the Tour Down Under myself as a rider in 2008 about Willunga Hill and the challenges it presents," he said.
"It's important to get off to a good start in the WorldTour races, so of course we'll want to achieve some good results in Australia. The riders will have a training camp together next month and then it will be important for them not to take too much of a holiday before we resume again in January."
