Philippe Gilbert (OmegaPharma-Lotto) won his second stage of this year’s Vuelta a España today on the complicated run in to the finish in Toledo. The Belgian’s victory marks him out as an even bigger favourite for next month’s World Championships road race in Melbourne, Australia. With the race a little over two weeks away many riders might have abandoned the race by now, but Gilbert defends his choice to stay on.
“I’m not hiding before the World Championships,” he said, “because I made my seasonal choices at the beginning of the year and everyone has understood that after the spring classics, I’m focusing only on the World Championship.
So far in the race he has won two stages and worn the leader’s red jersey for five days; after a quiet summer he is returning to form at just the right time.
“There’s no surprise, I’ve got the timing right,” he said. “I’m in a perfect shape and I hope for the best outcome in Australia.”
With his good friend, and Monaco neighbour, Tom Boonen (Quick Step) out of the World Championships following a knee operation, Gilbert will be the virtually undisputed leader of the Belgian team. Since his storming performance in the Ardennes classics everything has been working towards Belgium’s first rainbow jersey since Boonen’s 2005 win.
He has not even had a chance to consider his race calendar for the weeks following the World Championships. Last year his flying October saw him win the Coppa Sabatini, Paris-Tours, the Giro del Piemonte and the Giro di Lombardia in the space of ten days; whether he will try to repeat that feat, he isn’t sure.
“I’m not sure of what I’ll be doing one week after the Worlds road race,” he explained, “if I’ll have recovered on time for racing for the triple-crown at Paris-Tours. For now, I’m totally focused on the rainbow jersey, that’s what I want. If I don’t get it, I’ll try and get my revenge at Paris-Tours and the Giro di Lombardia like last year but this is not what I’m aiming for at the moment.”
As far as his performance in the Vuelta is concerned, Gilbert could not be more pleased, even though he has not been able to mount a serious challenge for the points competition. “I came to the Vuelta with the goal of winning a stage and I’ve won two, he said, “so I’m more than satisfied, especially with the great condition I’m feeling in now.
“I have no regrets in missing out on the green jersey because that was not my priority. I’ve thought about it, I’ve imagined winning the points classification at some stage but I’ve preferred not to take any unnecessary risk. I’m not going to win a bunch sprint on the flat and there’s a big risk of ruining all my good work with a crash.”
As one of the sport’s truly nice guys, Gilbert would be a popular winner on October 3rd.