Phil will retire on “his” Cauberg
On Saturday 15 October, the surroundings of the Cauberg in Valkenburg will be completely dominated by the farewell event of professional cyclist Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal). At the exact spot where he won the Amstel Gold Race four times and where he achieved the biggest victory of his career, winning the World Championships in 2012, Philippe bids farewell to the professional life in the peloton after a richly filled career of 20 years, with a total of 80 professional victories, including four monuments (Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 2x Tour of Lombardy), the World Championships, stages in the 3 major tours, Paris-Tours, Clásica San Sebastián, Flèche Wallonne, Brabantse Pijl and the Amstel 4 times, leaving only Jan Raas before him on the honours list.
The day will start on Saturday morning with a cycling tour for the general public on and around the 2012 World Championships route: Phil & Fans will be the ultimate chance to cycle in Philippe's wheel and to conquer the mythical Cauberg together with him. Around noon he will present his official tribute book with an opportunity to have it signed and in the afternoon the climax will follow: a farewell criterium with Phil's teammates from past and present, including Thor Hushovd and Alessandro Ballan at the start, after which Philippe will symbolically hang up his bike.
If you want to participate in the cycling tour, you can register now on www.philslastride.com. The farewell criterium in the afternoon (start 3 pm) is freely accessible to the general public and is the perfect moment to bid farewell to one of Belgium's most successful riders of the past decades.
About the UCI WorldTour team
The Lotto cycling teams are a household name in the cycling world. Since 1985, the National Lottery has linked the name of its strong Lotto brand, together with various other partners, to the professional cycling team. After all these years, the 2022 team is still known for its offensive spirit, approachability and investment in young Belgian cycling talent. The team shows itself every year on a global level and won the biggest races like the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and many stages in the Tour de France.
About Dstny
Dstny is a fast-growing technology company that originated in Belgium and has become a European provider of modern business communication solutions based on cloud technology, enabling employees and customers of small and large companies to communicate with each other in an easy and straightforward manner via all possible communication channels (voice, video, chat and others).