Bookwalter hopes to return to the Tour in 2013
- By Andrew Hood
- Published 3 hours ago
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VALKENBURG, Netherlands (VN) – Brent Bookwalter ends his 2012 campaign Saturday at the Giro di Lombardia and is looking to put a strong ending on what he admits was a frustrating summer.
After he rode to help Cadel Evans win the 2011 Tour de France, BMC Racing management left the 28-year-old American off the 2012 Tour squad. Rather than help the Australian in his repeat bid at the Tour, Bookwalter found himself shipped off to the Tour of Austria instead.
“I was the odd-man out,” Bookwalter told VeloNews. “I wanted to go (to the Tour) and I thought I deserved a spot, but it was up to the team to decide who went. The team decided to bring some other people.”
Bookwalter was one of Evans’ most loyal and hardest-working domestiques during both the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Many assumed that he would be a natural for a return trip to the Tour this summer as Evans lined up as defending champion.
The arrival of new names to BMC Racing, however, meant it was going to be a dogfight to earn a spot on the nine-man Tour roster.
Philippe Gilbert, Tejay van Garderen and British climber Steve Cummings, all three newcomers for 2012, punched their tickets to the Tour. Joining Bookwalter on the sidelines were Ivan Santaromita and Steve Morabito, two other riders who were part of the 2011 Tour-winning team.
“With so many new guys coming to the team, there was a reshuffling on where everyone stood. That was challenging. Hopefully I can get better because of it,” Bookwalter said. “When you have guys like Gilbert and Tejay, you knew it was going to be tough (to make the Tour team).”
After racing the Tour de Suisse, Bookwalter learned he was not going to the Tour when a plane ticket to Austria showed up in his email inbox. That meant he was racing the Osterreich-Rundfahrt and not the grande boucle.
“I didn’t realize how much I liked racing the Tour until I wasn’t
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