Published December 17, 2014 04:48PM
BMC Racing aims for classics victory, announces 2015 roster
After Philippe Gilbert opened BMC's account at the spring classics with an Amstel Gold win, the team hopes for more early-season success
BMC Racing's Philippe Gilbert won the 2014 Amstel Gold race. Photo: BrakeThrough Media | brakethroughmedia.com
BMC Racing is already looking ahead to chilly spring days in Northern Europe, far away from Spain’s sunny Costa Blanca, where its riders were racking up early-season miles at a mid-December training camp. The American team is aiming for another win in a major spring classic.
Philippe Gilbert notched BMC’s first classics win at Amstel Gold in 2014, and the team is hoping for more of the same in the coming season.
“We want to go back to the classics and bring home another victory — and possibly a second,” team president and general manager Jim Ochowicz said.
Greg Van Avermaet also scored two second places in 2014’s major early-season tests, at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders). The 29-year-old Belgian will return for his fifth year with the American outfit, again with sights set on success in cobbled classics. This comes despite rumblings of discord between him and Gilbert, 32, who hinted that he might like a shot at the likes of Paris-Roubaix or Tour of Flanders.
Beyond the springtime, BMC aims to return to the Tour de France with a contender in the form of Tejay van Garderen, who has grown into his role as a grand tour leader after five years with the organization.
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“We would like to elevate [van Garderen] to another level at the Tour de France and get him on the podium in 2015,” Ochowicz said. Van Garderen, 26, finished fifth overall in 2015, equalling his best result at the race, in 2012, when he won the young rider’s classification.
2015 BMC Racing team roster
Darwin Atapuma (COL)
Brent Bookwalter (USA)
Marcus Burghardt (GER)
Damiano Caruso (ITA)
Alessandro De Marchi (ITA)
Rohan Dennis (AUS)
Silvan Dillier (SUI)
Jempy Drucker (LUX)
Cadel Evans (AUS)
Campbell Flakemore (AUS)
Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
Ben Hermans (BEL)
Stefan Küng (SUI)
Klaas Lodewyck (BEL)
Amaël Moinard (FRA)
Daniel Oss (ITA)
Taylor Phinney (USA)
Manuel Quinziato (ITA)
Joey Rosskopf (USA)
Michael Schär (SUI)
Manuel Senni (ITA)
Peter Stetina (USA)
Dylan Teuns (BEL)
Greg Van Avermaet (BEL)
Tejay van Garderen (USA)
Peter Velits (SVK)
Danilo Wyss (SUI)
Rick Zabel (GER)