Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) has made up for his disappointing World Championships by winning today’s Coppa Sabatini in Tuscany. The 27-year-old Belgian was the strongest in the uphill sprint after 199 kilometers to Peccioli beating Italian Giovanni Visconti (ISD), winner in 2006 and 2007, and Switzerland’s Leonardo Bertagnolli (Diquigiovanni).
Gilbert won the sprint out of a group that dwindled down to 24 riders and included teammate Cadel Evans, who got to display his World Championship jersey for the first time in the prestigious Italian semi-classic. The Australian showed his form by making several attacks to no avail, but his work was not in vain as it allowed Gilbert to conserve energy for the sprint.
Next Sunday is the race of the falling leaves, otherwise known as the Giro di Lombardia, and it will cap off the UCI European calendar. Both Gilbert and Evans will be regarded as favorites along with Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank). Silence-Lotto who came under fire for having disastrous spring, has turned their season around and could end it off with an incredible fall by winning in Lombardy.