BMC, an outfit regarded as one of the pro peleton’s ‘superteams’, has announced its squad for 2012.
Unveiling a 26-strong roster that includes 2011 Tour De France winner, Cadel Evans, 2010 world road race champion, Thor Hushovd, and current world number one, Phillipe Gilbert, team president and general manager, Jim Ochowicz, said his team would be “realistic” but “competitive”.
“We go into 2012 with an arsenal of riders who are competitive in any endeavor in professional cycling,” he said.
“Our goals and objectives are realistic. We are not going to claim we will win this race or that race. But we should be competitive in every race we enter. That’s what we want to do. If we win, then that’s great, too.”
John Lelangue, the team’s Directeur Sportif, said the team’s primary objectives would be to defend Evans’ Tour De France crown and to be “proactive” in the classics.
Lelangue’s sentiments were echoed by the riders who will carry the burden of the team’s ambitions – Evans, Gilbert, and Hushovd.
Evans’ Tour De France victory was far from an isolated success. The Australian, seemingly transformed from a cautious tactician to a puncheur since becoming world road race champion in 2009, also won Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of Romandie in 2011, as well as finishing second to Bradley Wiggins in the Criterium du Dauphine.
Le Grande Boucle’s defending champion was unequivocal in his goal for 2012.
“As a team, we are looking forward and it’s clear what our ambition is – to repeat our result at the Tour de France. We go in with an even better, stronger team. I’m looking forward to that challenge,” Evans said.
The depth of talent for the classics on BMC’s roster is considerable, with Gilbert and Hushovd arguably the two biggest signings of the closed season, alongside Sky’s acquisition of Mark Cavendish.
Gilbert won 18 races in 2011, including Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Gent Wevelgem, and La Fleche Wallonne, taking him to the top of the UCI and IG Markets rankings. The Belgian, who also became national road race and time trial champion in 2011, said he tried to ‘restart’ after every season, and 2012 would be no different. “I always want to do my best. I don’t think about winning. I always have the same motivation and goals whether I have won a race or not,” he said.
His 2011 season also saw him win the Clasica San Sebastian and the Amstel Gold Race, as well as the opening stage of the Tour De France. “I know it was incredible, but I had the support and confidence of a team – which I already have with the BMC Racing Team. I know that sometimes you can do your best and still come in second, third, fourth or fifth. But I’m ready for this. If I don’t win, we as a team will still have done our best to win,” said Gilbert.
Hushovd enjoyed a hugely successful Tour De France, winning two individual stages, wearing the yellow jersey for eight days, and helping Garmin-Cervelo win the team time trial. He also won stages in the Tour de Suisse and the Tour of Britain. But the Norwegian’s classics form suffered, and he has identified Milan San-Remo, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix, a race in which he finished third in 2009 and second in 2010, as his priorities for 2012. “It’s always been my dream to win Paris-Roubaix and now it’s even bigger goal since I’m on such a strong team with a good supporting cast.”
“The supporting cast” includes 2008 world road race champion, Alessandro Ballan, who will race the Giro d’Italia for the first time in 2012, American, George Hincapie, nine times a member of winning Tour teams, and the Belgian, Greg Van Avermaet, another of BMC’s classics strongmen and winner of this year’s Paris-Tours.
Ochowicz said each rider on the team has been carefully selected.
“Our current roster is full of guys who are capable of either performing at a high level themselves or supporting someone else.
“It also feels great to have Cadel so competitive and motivated to defend at the Tour and it’s exciting to have the No. 1 rider in the world on the team. Philippe’s 2011 season was spectacular and he’s just as motivated looking at 2012,” he said.
