BMC invited to Critérium International

For the second year running, the BMC Racing Team has earned an invitation to the prestigious Critérium International (March 28-29) in northern France. ASO informed the team during the Tour of California of the repeat invite.

"This is a perfect race for the team and we are really happy to be going again this year," Directeur Sportif John Lelangue said. "It is a complete stage race in just three stages and always draws the top racers for every edition."

BMC has kicked off the 2009 season touting a new ambitious multi-year plan, which they hope will ultimately find them being competitive at the Tour de France. "We want to get into all the highest category races since they are all very important to our development," Lelangue explained. "Invitations like this one are a good sign that the race organisers also believe in our ability to be competitive and add another dimension to their races."

In the 2008 edition of the Critérium International BMC raced well. "Last year we had Ian McKissick in a long breakaway on the first stage, and then Danilo Wyss and Alex Moos were able to finish off the stages with strong placings in the sprints," Lelangue remembered. "This year we will be coming into the Critérium International after doing a race in the Netherlands and one in Belgium the week before with the same eight riders, so we should be well prepared for the three hard stages in France."