While the Belgian Cycling Federation has just appointed a new national coach in the person of Serge Pauwels, Philippe Gilbert had the hope of succeeding Sven Vanthourenhout. The latter would never have had the opportunity to defend his candidacy and he regrets it.
Belgian Cycling announced, this Wednesday, November 13, the names of the successors of Sven Vanthournehout. Serge Pauwels is the new coach of the national road team and Angelo de Clercq will take charge of the Belgian cyclocross team. An announcement that will have disappointed the legend Philippe Gilbert (42 years old) who expressed his disappointment on social networks.
https://twitter.com/BELCyclingTeam/status/1856739622698795143
Philippe Gilbert: “The internal agreements of Belgian cycling were the reason for my candidacy”
“I had the hope of becoming a national road cycling coach in order to share my experience and my passion with the current generation. The position having never been open, the internal agreements of Belgian cycling got the better of my application. I would like to thank the many runners who showed their enthusiasm as well as the countless number of people who supported me”declared Philippe Gilbert on his account Instagram following the results of the succession of Sven Vanthournehout.
Philippe Gilbert seemed to have all the qualities required to become coach of the Belgian team, he is bilingual and knows perfectly the Belgians in the current peloton, several of whom had also shown their support for him, likeArnaud De Lie at the microphone of the RTBF : “He has a lot of experience in major championships, he has won them and it would be a very good place for him. » The Belgian federation preferred to grant itself the services of Serge Pauwelswho was already the deputy of Sven Vanthourenhout.
Serge Pauwels: “Creating an ideal environment for runners and staff”
The new coach of the Belgian national team spoke about his new position. “I am very honored to take this position, especially since we have one of the best generations of Belgians. I want to create an ideal environment for the runners and the staff. I'm looking forward to seeing the juniors I've worked with in recent seasons move up to the higher categories in the coming years. After Remco, Wout and Lotte, there is still a lot of potential talent and I want to continue to do my best for them. I am convinced that we will create a very strong team, not only in terms of riders, but also in terms of staff. I hope to continue Vanthourenhout's work. »
France
Cycling
