Dutch team 1T4i, which narrowly missed out on the chance to fight for a UCI ProTeam licence last autumn due to being just outside the top 20-ranked teams, is one of four squads which have today been allocated important wildcard slots in the Amstel Gold Race.
The setup is joined by three Belgian squads in the list of invited teams. Race director Leo Van Vliet has also selected Christophe Sercu’s Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator, Lucien Van Impe’s Willems-Accent and Landbouwkrediet-Euphony for the race, which will take place on Sunday April 15th.
It takes in part of this year’s world championships route and so it is likely that the overall strength of the field will be higher than before. Some riders who normally might not include the Classic on their programmes will be keen to compete on the climbs which will form part of the Limburg championships.
Defending champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) is expected to take part again.
IT4i is the former Skil Shimano team. It will be renamed in March when a new sponsor comes on board.
The squad has already got a thumbs-up this week from the race organisers for the Tour of Flanders. They confirmed the Dutch team would join the three aforementioned Belgian Pro Continental teams in the lineup, along with Europcar and Farnese Vini – Selle Italia.
It appears likely that more invites could be allocated for the Amstel Gold Race. Today’s race statement refers to the announced selection as being ‘the first four wildcards,’ and last year the race handed out six places.
The four team structures named today were present then, along with Farnese Vini and Cofidis.
The field will also include the eighteen UCI ProTeam squads, which have an automatic right of entry to WorldTour races.
Amstel Gold Race 2012:
ProTeams:
Rabobank (Netherlands)
Green Edge (Australia)
RadioShack-Nissan Trek (USA)
Vacansoleil-DCM (Netherlands)
Belisol Lotto (Belgium)
Lampre-ISD (Italy)
Liquigas Cannondale (Italy)
Katusha (Russia)
Sky Procycling (Great Britain)
Omega Pharma-Quick Step (Belgium)
Saxo Bank (Denmark)
Euskaltel Euskadi- (Spain)
Movistar (Spain)
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Pro Team Astana (Kazakhstan)
Garmin Cervélo (USA)
AG2R La Mondiale (France)
Francaise des Jeux– Big Mat (France)
Wildcards :
1T4i
Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator
Willems-Accent
Landbouwkrediet-Euphony