The BMC Racing team has been refused a wildcard invitation to the Dwars door Vlaanderen (Across Flanders) race because it amounts to what the organiser called a “third-rate” team, according to the Belgian news agency. The 1.1 rated race covers 204km between Roeselare and Waregem on March 24th, midway between Milano-Sanremo and the newly positioned Gent-Wevelgem.
"In October we received a request from them whether they could get to start in Dwars door Vlaanderen,” said race director Guy Delesie. "But great was our astonishment when we got the list showing their selection for our race, because not one of one of their leaders was on the list. They would have come with a third-rate team.
“We call that a lack of respect for our organization and why we decided not to allow them to ride the Dwars door Vlaanderen," he added.
BMC Racing’s roster boasts two of the biggest classics specialists in US champion George Hincapie and 2008 World champion Alessandro Ballan, as well as Karsten Kroon, Marcus Burghardt and current World champion Cadel Evans. Delesie feels that a team without any of these names does not deserve an invite.
"In their place is now the Spanish team Xacobeo Galicia,” he said. “We would rather have a motivated team at the start, a team with a lot less name recognition than BMC, who would just come to ride some kilometres.”