Neo-pro Silvan Dillier found himself with some high-level support in today's GP Gippingen, his home race. With Philippe Gilbert, Cadel Evans and Samuel Sanchez at his side, the young Swiss lived up to the confidence by taking second in the hilly race.

BMC Racing Team's Silvan Dillier notched his best result of the season with a runner-up finish to Simon Geschke (Team Giant-Shimano) Thursday at GP Kanton Aargau. Racing not far from his home, Dillier said it was clear in the late going of the 181.5-km race that it would come down to a sprint.

"With two laps to go, I tried to attack but they did not let me go. So everything was focused on the sprint," Dillier said. "The team supported me very well. Around 500 meters to go, Philippe Gilbert did the lead out for me. At the end, I was a little too short. But second is a nice result in such a hard race."

Gilbert finished sixth after helping the BMC Racing Team ramp up the speed in the closing laps around the 12.1-km circuit after a three-man breakaway enjoyed a six-minute lead past the midpoint.

"Together with my teammates, we were able to go hard and with three laps to go we tried to take the race in our hands and make it even harder," Dillier said.

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Jackson Stewart said everyone contributed to pulling the breakaway back and marking late moves.

"A lot of these guys are racing Tour de Suisse, so they wanted to see where their legs were," he said. "Dillier was very strong today. It is a shame he didn't win because it is his home. But we will go on to the Tour de Suisse and it should be good."