BMC Racing Team's Philippe Gilbert and Greg Van Avermaet headline the squad's roster for Ronde van België (Tour of Belgium). Gilbert is a past winner (2011), while Van Avermaet has twice finished runner-up (2008 and 2011) for the five-day race that begins Wednesday.

Gilbert withdrew from the Amgen Tour of California last Wednesday to return to Europe for the birth of his second son on Friday in Monaco. "It will be hard to recover from the jet lag before the start because I always have problems with jet lag," Gilbert said. "I hope to be able to follow in the first stages, but it will depend on the wind and the weather forecast, of course. I'm looking forward to doing something on the last stage because it passes right through my village, so I know the roads well."

Van Avermaet, who has eight top 10 finishes this year, last raced April 21 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "The Tour of Belgium is a nice race for me, especially this year because there are some stages which suit me," Van Avermaet said. "One is on the old parcours of the Tour of Flanders with some climbs on the Mur and the old finish in Meerbeke. There are also two stages in the Ardennes. I hope to go for a stage win and a good general classification because I will not lose too much time in the time trial."

BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Yvon Ledanois said a strong team, which includes Swiss national road champion Martin Kohler and Danish national road champion Sebastian Lander, is assembled around Gilbert and Van Avermaet. "Several of the riders come in well-rested after a break, so I'm confident we will do well with this team," he said.

BMC Racing Team Ronde van België Roster (May 22-26):
Marcus Burghardt (GER), Philippe Gilbert (BEL), Martin Kohler (SUI), Sebastian Lander (DEN), Dominik Nerz (GER), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), Greg Van Avermaet (BEL), Larry Warbasse (USA).