Belgian classics star will be too expensive after team loses co-sponsor Lotto
Omega Pharma-Lotto manager Marc Sergeant has conceded that he may not be able to hold on to Philippe Gilbert, the team’s biggest star, when his contract comes up for renewal at the end of the year, according to Sporza. Gilbert, who was already a big star before the start of the 2011 season, won the Brabanste Pijl, the Amstel Gold Race, la Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in an incredible twelve days this April, making him the hottest property in Belgium right now.
He returned to racing last week, winning a stage and the overall at the Tour of Belgium.
“I don’t think there is the money to pay him,” Sergeant admitted to Het Laatste Nieuws.
At the end of the season Lotto will be leaving the team to set up its own Belgian cycling project; Omega Pharma will continue to support the team, but this may well mean a reduced budget for Sergeant to work with.
“That money may have been there if the sponsors had stayed together,” he said. “Gilbert is the [Alberto] Contador of the one day races. He has reached a point where he can earn really big money.”
While Sergeant would obviously like to hold on to Gilbert, he is also sympathetic to the rider’s perspective as he negotiates his contract for 2012.
“The logical step is to find a lot of money to secure his future,” he conceded. “He’s not going to say ‘no, I’d rather settle for less.’”
Gilbert has been with the Omega Pharma-Lotto team since 2009, having previously spent six years with Française des Jeux, and his stock has been continually rising. It now looks as though it has risen past the budget of his current team, and he will likely be heading elsewhere.
“The last meeting of the board came just after the Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold races,” said Sergeant. “We knew Gilbert would be more expensive; and then came la Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
“Quick Step?” he added. “I wonder if Patrick Lefevere can afford him. Naturally I don’t know Czech investor Zdenek Bakala; but if the money is there, then it must please Philippe as well; he has his principles.”
As the current top Belgian rider, Gilbert is an obvious target for a Belgian team, if it could afford him. Sergeant also knows that there are international teams that would be keen to sign the rider who, right now, is the best one day rider in the World.
“I understand that Team Sky also wants Gilbert,” he said. “Sky is a Global player and Philippe speaks its language. With Gilbert you can go anywhere in the World. If Gilbert chooses then there will clearly be room for a number of other riders.”
With Lotto leaving at the end of the year there may be a little downsizing in some areas of the team, but right now it has not affected performances; on or off the road.
“Nobody talks about problems,” he said. “There is no panic because everybody has plenty of options; including the staff.
“We had a number of agreements at the beginning of the season,” he explained, “which I intend to respect. Moreover, where Gilbert has ridden he has won; that makes it easy. We also had a good Giro, and now it is the turn of Jurgen Van Den Broeck; a good Tour is a priority.”
Sergeant’s quest to secure a second sponsor to replace Lotto for 2012 would be greatly eased if Van Den Broeck could match or better his fifth place at the Tour de France of last year. Maybe then he could think about hanging on to Gilbert, his most precious asset by far.