Fresh from winning Paris-Tours last Sunday, Greg Van Avermaet will be heading with BMC Racing Team to the season-ending Giro di Lombardia this weekend. Last year the Belgian finished sixteenth while riding for Omega Pharma-Lotto, and his showing last weekend suggests he can aim higher than that.
The team will have two cards to play; teammate Mauro Santambrogio finished eighth twelve months ago and has also been listed in the line up for the race that takes place on many of his training roads. “I think my condition is good and I'll try to give it my best in our last race [of the season],” the Italian stated.
Last year the monument was won by Philippe Gilbert who is expected to defend his crown on the altered route. The organisers announced the race would be 241 kilometres long this year, keeping the Madonna del Ghisallo climb but finishing in the town of Lecco.
"With a new parcours, we also have to be attentive to the early breakaways because a group can go to the end," commented BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue.
The race is the last event on the UCI’s WorldTour calendar. However, Gilbert has already secured his victory as the number one rider in the WorldTour this year. His year-long campaign has been a draining one, and so it will be interesting to see if he can raise his game once more before taking a well-earned rest.
AG2R La Mondiale will also be targeting the Italian race with in-form Nicolas Roche. The Irishman won stage three of the inaugural Tour of Beijing last week, proving he is on track, and could be a dark horse for the race. Former Tour de France yellow jersey wearer Rinaldo Nocentini will also be in action for the French team.
----
Giro di Lombardia rosters (Oct. 15)
BMC Racing Team:
Alessandro Ballan, Mathias Frank, Martin Kohler, Steve Morabito, Mauro Santambrogio, Ivan Santaromita, Michael Schär and Greg Van Avermaet.
AG2R La Mondiale :
Nicolas Roche, Rinaldo Nocentini, Maxime Bouet, Julien Berard, Guillaume Bonnafond, Mickael Cherel, Ben Gastauer and Matteo Montaguti.