In an interview with Procycling magazine earlier this year it was suggested that like Cadel Evans, Philippe Gilbert might not have been riding for the Omega Pharma – Lotto team this year.
At the start of 2009, after moving from Francais des Jeux to Silence-Lotto, various problems settling into the team meant he was only called into the team for the Tour of Flanders the night before the race. Despite this he pulled third place out of the bag, kick-started Silence-Lotto's year and followed up with fourth at both Amstel Gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. For one reason or another, perhaps his professionalism, he honoured his contract and stayed with the Belgian team for 2010. Perhaps this is something he has been regretting given their start to the year and further stories of disturbance in the ranks. So what are the chances that the Belgian star will remain where he is next year, or if he does move, where is he likely to end up?
Why wouldn't Philippe Gilbert stay with Omega Pharma? A Belgian riding for a Belgian team, one of the countries biggest stars, un-disputed team leader and by the end of this year, likely to be able to demand what he wants. But, and it's a big but, Omega Pharma's management would appear to have some questions to answer as to their ability to manage a team, let alone support one of cycling's biggest stars. First of all they seem to have serious issues regarding recruitment policy. No they aren't the richest team around, but last year they must have been rummaging deep in the bargain basement to have signed Tom Dekker. It doesn't help that the only other top-name rider they were linked to was Bernie Kohl and he was less than flattering in his assessment of why they were willing to hire him.
The second charge is that they don't seem to know how to actually manage their riders. To sign one of the most promising one-day riders of his generation and then almost leave him at home for Tour of Flanders is incomprehensible. It suggests cliques and as the sponsor and all the Directors are from Flanders, perhaps even a reflection of Belgium's current political problems.
Charge three: 2010. It hasn't been a good year for the team so far has it? Until he won at Amstel Gold they were the only Protour team without a win and, other than Gilbert, hadn't seemed likely to win anything. Gilbert has repeatedly suggested that the outcome of races would likely have been different had there been a team-mate with him at the end. But that is likely to be the most criticism he'd level at the team publicly. But the truth is that they have one star and the next tier are average. They had numbers to the fore in a lot of the classics, notably at Paris-Roubaix especially when compared to Quick-Step who were as much conspicuous by their absence however, they never looked like they'd threaten the podium. Granted, it remains to be seen what Van den Broeck can do at the Tour, but without Evans and now Gilbert has set his next target as the Worlds in Melbourne, we're not likely to hear a lot from Omega Pharma-Lotto until September.
If he leaves and last winter's rumours are anything to go by, the favourites to sign him must be Team Sky. A clean team for a clean rider, money no issue and neither is team support. There is bound to be an element of revolving doors at Team Sky at the end of the season, where riders haven't got along with the System, so any problem of having too many top riders might resolve itself. Despite their spending power and their attention to detail, the spring hasn't gone so well for Sky. Injury took out Edvald Boasen Hagen and although Juan Antonio Flecha did land Het Nieuwsblad, he looked to be coming up slightly short at other races. Worse (has their year been poor?) was that they have hardly registered during Ardennes week. The problem at Team Sky though, is numbers. Gilbert doesn't do power-meters or training with science, he still trains using the old-school science of feel and it is this that probably allows him to be Philippe Gilbert. If you start putting him in boxes with numbers on then I'm sure the “Panache” would vanish along with the results. Team Sky could probably make a better rider out of him physically than by his methods, but they might also destroy what he feels underpins his being taking his coonfidence with him, something he doesn't seem to lack much of at present. This would be where working with Sky would fall-down, Brailsford has always said that some riders just wouldn't be able to adapt to Sky's way of doing things and inadvertantly or not, Gilbert seems to have acknowledged that fact without even joining the team.
Depending on whether Bjarne can get a sponsor or not, then Riis Cycling might be another destination. Although at present full of stars who all want to win the races that Gilbert wants to win, this move would depend on how much truth there is in the talk of the Schlecks setting up their own team and, if they do, whether they take Cancellara with them. If all three of them left Riis would be left with a big hole to fill, but one that Gilbert would fit very well in, especially with the amount of support and organisation built into the team. There are potential problems: the emergence this season of Matti Breschel as a top classics rider, might give Gilbert pause for thought, but would give the team more than one card and given Riis' penchant for team-building, a Dane on a Danish team is unlikely to be allowed to get in the way of the team winning. As for team building, if the Schlecks left, would Riis rather just promote Breschel and go after a Grand Tour rider rather than possibly put all his money on Gilbert. Another problem would be Riis himself and how much his controlling nature could stifle the Gilbert's natural creativity.
Other options? Quick-Step: despite being good friends with Tom Boonen, not a chance. Gilbert isn't going to win Flanders riding on Tom's team. HTC: I'm sure Gilbert's good friend Maxime Monfort will have been chatting to Bob Stapleton about signing him, but there are a lot of good (although unproven) riders on the team although they haven't had much of a presence at the classics this year. But could Bob afford Gilbert? Not with Cavendish on the team and with Columbia's money ending this year, he needs a new sponsor first. Any of the French teams: they have had a resurgence this year, they don't have any winners and he's a Walloon. But despite having been a lot more visible at the sharp end of races this year, Gilbert is unlikely to be guaranteed enough support for him with the current riders, he'd be swapping like-for-like and would they be able to afford him anyway?
You may think this odd, but as an industry outsider and armed with no evidence whatsoever, my favourite to sign him is BMC. This team would probably be low down on most people's lists, but look a bit closer and it makes sense on many levels. When Evans left Silence-Lotto at the end of last season, he expressed his disappointment, saying they got on well and pointed to last years Vuelta and Tour of Lombardy as an example of how they could work together. For Gilbert and Evans there would be very little overlap between the two riders, the only clash would be at the Ardennes Classics and Lombardy and these are races where both riders would benefit from the presence of a strong team-mate, something the other main teams involved in the final of Liege-Bastogne-Liege did have. Indeed, both Evans and Gilbert gave interviews after Liege-Bastogne-Liege lamenting the lack of a strong team-mate at the vital point of the race and if you want, you can read into that as a call for BMC to sign Gilbert. By now, Andy Rihs must be desperate to sign riders who will not return the favour by dropping a doping scandal in his lap. Rihs did a good job of hiring some names that would get invites into the bigger races, but other than Evans they have barely managed to finish, let alone produce results. Now that BMC have announced they are planning to step-up to Protour level in 2011, they are going to need to bolster the team and for anyone doing that Philippe Gilbert would be at the top of their wish-list. This might mean a bidding war, Team Sky will be after him, but affordability isn't going to be a problem for Rihs, his pockets go down a long way.
Personally, I think the biggest issue is whether Gilbert can bring himself to leave a Belgian team. It's not always about the results and if the season starts going better for Omega Phama then perhaps the differences will be forgotten. However currently all indications are that he will be leaving, if the Schlecks set up a new team with Cancellara and Bjarne Riis can find the money for Gilbert then I'd imagine he'll find the option of interest. But even before Liege-Bastongne-Liege I felt BMC would be a good option and now, after the Ardennes Classics and the announcement from BMC that they are stepping up to Protour level it looks an even better option.
Photo: LesMeloures
