Omega Pharma-Lotto rider had superb season
Following the most successful year of his career, Philippe Gilbert’s growing reputation has seen him nominated as one of three contenders for the Belgian Sportsman of the Year competition. He won the contest in 2009.
The 28 year old Omega Pharma Lotto rider will be up against the 400 metre runner Kevin Borlée and showjumping horserider Philippe Le Jeune. The latter became world champion this year while Borlée took the European 400 metre championship title and also won bronze in the 4×400 metre relay.
Gilbert didn’t win a major championship but he had a superb year, making the most of his explosive abilty. The friendly Walloon won the Amstel Gold and Tour of Lombardy Classics, picked up the Giro del Piemonte and also took victories on stages of the Vuelta a España (two wins) and the Tour of Belgium.
In addition to that, he was third in Gent Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, fifth in Brabantse Pijl, sixth in Flèche Wallonne and ninth in Milan-San Remo.
He was also the strongest rider in the world road race championships in Australia, but was hauled back by the chasing group on the run-in towards the line. Gilbert would arguably have stayed clear had the course been more difficult.
Because of those victories and his all-round consistency, he finished third in the UCI’s world rankings. He’s said that a future aim is to target a high overall finish in a three week Tour, thus potentially giving him enough points to end the year as the world’s top rider.
Recently, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault have both said that they believe he can develop into a Grand Tour rider. Gilbert feels if he can lose some weight, he can climb more strongly in the high mountains and thus cope better with the demands of the three week races.
He will find out if he has taken the Belgian Sportsman of the Year award when the are announced at the Sports Gala at the Casino Kursaal of Ostend on Sunday December 19th. The women’s prize will be settled between triple jumper Svetlanda Bolshakova, tennis player Kim Clijsters and basketball player Ann Wauters.