Philippe Gilbert hung up his bike last month, but the blood is thicker than water. And so the 40-year-old Gilbert came to the start of the second Beking criterion today, in his hometown of Monaco.
In a 40-lap race on the local Formula 1 circuit, Gilbert stayed ahead of Australian Michael Matthews and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar. Pogacar’s compatriot Matej Mohoric received the prize for fighting spirit.
Last year the professional criterion was won by Primoz Roglic.
Earlier in the day, Gilbert had also won the Pro-Am event along with Frenchman Clement Champoussin, among others. Teams of 5 (2 professional cyclists, 1 athlete invited by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation and 2 amateurs) competed against each other.
The team of Mohoric and Robert Stannard came 2nd, that of Peter Sagan and Matteo Moschetti 3rd.
The cycling event, which also included competitions for children, drew attention to road safety. Proceeds went to two charitable projects: the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation and Fight Aids, chaired by Princess Stephanie of Monaco.
“I’m really happy,” said Gilbert after the game.
“I won both races. In the Pro-Am the difference with the second was only one second and winning the professional race was also far from easy. The level of the field was very high. The racing was hard.”
“I enjoyed riding a charity event with all those champions. It was nice to end my career this way, in a place where I have lived for 13 years.”
