John Lelangue: ‘We were among the best teams in the world’
Team BMC Racing’s manager, John Lelangue relishes the opportunity of racing in the first division next year. This week, the International Cycling Union (UCI) awarded his team a ProTeam licence to race in the first division next year.
“It was a big achievement for us to get to the level where we are today,” Lelangue said in a press release Friday. “We were among the best teams in the world on the sport level this year.
“Now we will have global access to the best races in the world. That’s a big achievement.”
The UCI named the 18 teams that will compete in the first division on Monday. It used a points-based ranking to come up with its sporting criterium. The first 15 teams were nearly guaranteed a ProTeam or first division licence, but the teams ranked 15th to 20th – Euskaltel, Geox, Quick Step, Cofidis and AG2R – had to fight for the remaining three licences.
BMC Racing, due to the performances of Cadel Evans as World Champion, confidently held 15th place. Besides Evans, George Hincapie, Alexander Kristoff and Alessandro Ballan also had good seasons.
Lelangue also boosted the team’s potential by signing American Taylor Phinney – winner of the last two editions of the Paris-Roubaix and time trial world champion at the Under 23 level.
“We can bring in young riders, for example, and build with them for the future – already looking forward to Paris-Roubaix or the Classics – in two or three years,” Lelangue said earlier in the week. “But we still have to race well to preserve this level and be sure at the end of the year we can stay ProTeam for the upcoming years.”
Evans’ season in the World Champion’s jersey was successful. He won the Flèche Wallonne and at the Giro d’Italia, won a stage, wore the leader’s jersey and finished fifth at the Giro d’Italia. At the Tour de France, he wore the leader’s yellow jersey and despite a fractured elbow, finished 26th overall.
“We went into the Tour de France with one single objective – to help Cadel get onto the podium in Paris,” Lelangue added. “All the team was focused around him. We didn’t bring a sprinter and we didn’t look to win any of the classifications. So we put a lot on his shoulders.”
The team met ahead of next season after the Giro di Lombardia last month. It will meet again this winter prior to starting its season at the Tour Down Under with Evans as the leader.