Philippe Gilbert made his return to competition in the Tour de Picardie and the Amstel Gold Race winner proved that he is already in decent condition. He took his second ever win in a mountains classification and finished fourth in the uphill sprint on the final day.
Philippe Gilbert won the Tour de Picardie's king of the mountains title Sunday while finishing fourth on the final stage of the three-day race. Gilbert took the lead in the king of the mountains competition on the opening stage after being part of a breakaway. He lost the polka-dot jersey that goes with leading the classification on Stage 2, but went to work Sunday to regain it.
"That was the plan and we controlled it well with the team," the past world road champion said. "We brought back a small breakaway and then the team did a very nice lead out for me to win the KOM (king of the mountain) and take the jersey."
Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) won his second straight stage ahead of Ramon Sinkeldam (Team Giant-Shimano) to take the overall by 13 seconds over Sinkeldam.
"The finish was 500 meters uphill and we decided to have me go for it," Gilbert said. "We really rode well as a team here."
BMC Racing Team Sport Director Yvon Ledanois agreed.
"I am very pleased with the guys today and Philippe. They did a good job," he said.
Gilbert's king of the mountains title was the second of his 12-year professional career. He also won the classification at the 2008 Santos Tour Down Under.
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