Philippe Gilbert will participate in the Tour de France from July 1. Various Belgian media write this. The 39-year-old Lotto Soudal rider is in his last season as a cycling professional. In the eleven times he has ridden the Tour so far, the classic specialist has only won the first stage in 2011. This allowed him to wear the yellow jersey for a day.
Gilbert will celebrate his 40th birthday during the fourth stage on 5 July. In the Tour he will be joined by the Belgians Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch and Brent Van Moer, the Australian Caleb Ewan and the Dane Andreas Kron. The names of the last two riders will be announced after the national championships next weekend. “I plan to work for Caleb Ewan, but I’m also motivated to show myself. With my experience I can mean a lot for the team. I’m looking forward to the start in Copenhagen,” Gilbert said after the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland to Belgian media.