News shorts: BMC, Lampre, Cofidis rosters for Milan-San Remo

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Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida).(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)

The BMC Racing Team will line up for Milan-San Remo with two-time podium finisher Philippe Gilbert as the top man for La Primavera. The former world champion is looking to finally add the Italian Monument to his palmares, which also include Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Giro di Lombardia. Gilbert came third in 2011 behind Matthew Goss and Fabian Cancellara, and in 2008, when Cancellara soloed to the victory and Gilbert was second to Filippo Pozzato in the sprint.

The debate on whether podium girls are an outdated custom in cycling continues, but Gent-Wevelgem organisers Flanders Classics have decided to level the playing field by introducing podium boys for their women’s race. According to the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Mister Belgium Personality, Fabio Ronti, and Mister Universe Belgium, Philip Moers, will be on hand during the women’s podium ceremony.

The move is likely a reaction to the furore caused by the poster for the 2015 E3 Harelbeke race – which takes place two days prior and is organised by a rival company. The poster, which made reference to the incident where Peter Sagan pinched the behind of a podium girl after finishing second to Fabian Cancellara in 2013, attracted a lot of criticism. Organisers later issued a second poster with the slogan “This is our conventional billboard promoting the most astonishing cycling event of the year.”