The BMC Racing team will start tomorrow’s Flèche Wallonne in Charleroi, Belgium without its defending champion Cadel Evans. The Australian former World champion sustained a quadricep injury in training three weeks ago and has not yet recovered enough to take on the hilly 201km course.
Without Evans, BMC Racing lacks a rider that can compete with the best climbers on the steep climb of the Mur de Huy to the finish. Like other teams in a similar position the team will be attempting to win the race through other tactics.
"Without Cadel, we will have a more offensive strategy throughout the whole race," said BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue.
In last year’s race Evans, clad in the rainbow jersey, bided his time on the steep slopes of up to 25%, as Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Alberto Contador (then Astana) accelerated away, pursued by Liquigas’ Vincenzo Nibali. The two Spanish rides looked to have done enough, as Contador accelerated once again, but they had both committed themselves too early and Evans passed them in the final 100 metres to take the victory.
The team will instead rely on its other classics specialists in the quest for victory; both Greg Van Avermaet and Martin Kohl are in good form right now, while Swiss climber Mathias Frank will be happy to work for the team.
"The Mur der Huy at the end is impressive and gives the race its character," said Frank. "I really like this race but I don't think my shape is good enough to follow the strongest guys at the end, so I will try to help the other guys as well as I can."
BMC Racing Team for la Flèche Wallonne:
Mathias Frank, Martin Kohler, Jeff Louder, Amaël Moinard, Mauro Santambrogio, Ivan Santaromita, Johann Tschopp and Greg Van Avermaet