Philippe Gilbert will need to rediscover his best form in this week’s Ardennes Classics if he is to retain his position at the top of the IG Markets Pro Cycling Index.
The Belgian national champion, who won all three races of Ardennes Week last year, began this year’s campaign with a sixth place at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday (15).
Thomas Voeckler claimed Gilbert’s Brabantse Pijl four days earlier, with the combined losses costing the Belgian more than 1,000 points on the Index.
Successful defences of his La Fleche Wallonne title tomorrow, and of his Liege-Bastogne-Liege crown on Sunday will cement his position as IG Markets’ number one.
The BMC Racing leader for the Classics has 1,357 Index points at stake, including bonuses for his series of victories last year in the Ardennes, and with cobbled Classics king, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), just 1299 points behind, Gilbert must score more than 58 to retain his position at the top of the standings.
Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) enters the Index’ top 200 at number 65 after his impressive win at the Amstel Gold Race last Sunday (15), an improvement on his third place of 2010. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) falls from second on the Index to fourth after finishing 24th in last Sunday’s big race, but was second in 2011. Simon Gerrans (GreenEDGE) also drops places on the Index after failing to defend last year’s third place. He finished twentieth last Sunday.
Thomas Voeckler’s victory at Brabanste Pijl, his fifth at the Amstel Gold race, and appearance points from a low-key showing at the GP de Denain have moved the Europcar rider to eleventh on the Index.
Both of Lampre-ISD’s team leaders, Michele Scarponi and Damiano Cunego, are competing in the Giro del Trentino stage race; Scarponi in a bid to repeat is victory of 2011, and Cunego in preparation for Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Cunego rode strongly in the Amstel Gold Race, before tangling with Team Sky’s Lars Petter Nordhaug at the race’s denouement on the Cauberg.
Nordhaug’s teammate, CJ Sutton, has now raced the most kilometres in the peloton. clocking up 15,036km in the last twelve months.
