Greg Van Avermaet to ride with his former team mate, Philippe Gilbert

Greg Van Avermaet to ride with his former team mate, Philippe Gilbert 

Greg Van Avermaet endured an uneasy co existence with his countryman Philippe Gilbert in his former side, Team Omega Pharma-Lotto. The cyclist hence accepted an offer from the Team BMC and had a terrific start with the new team.

Avermaet rode for the team for the whole season and claimed a number of victories for his side. However, things might not remain same for the season ahead since his old team mate Gilbert has also been signed by the American team.

Both the cyclist will now ride with Team BMC for the season ahead and despite Greg’s terrific form he might have to race under the leadership of his compatriot. Greg won the Tour de Wallonie 2011 including a stage 5 win at the race.

He also won as stage at the Tour of Austria, finished first at the Paris-Tours, second at the Tour of Belgium and 3^rd at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He also claimed the 9^th spot at the Milan-San Remo and the Montepaschi Strade Bianche in the previous year.

The 26-year-old told the media that he is quite similar Gilbert who currently at the peak of his career. “He won all the races that he could win last year and I just tried to improve every year to also reach my goals”, he briefed.

Van further added that, “It’s kind of an honour that he’s here on the team with me. I think he’s a strong rider and I’m going to try to work for him and try to improve myself too and get to the level he’s at right now”.

Gilbert on the other hand was the best rider for the 2011 season. He grabbed as many as 698 points to claim the top UCI World Tour rankings position. Greg managed to secure the 54^th position with a total number of 90 points to himself.

When asked about his relations with Philippe, the Belgian briefed that he has a good connection with him. Van Avermaet is also looking ahead to have a good year of cycling with his old team mate and one of the best classics specialist at the moment.

Posted by Ahmed Babar on Mar 28 2012. Filed under Sports, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.