John Lelangue officially announced today from the Tour of Missouri that he will join the BMC Racing Team in 2008 as Directeur Sportif.
The BMC program is currently applying for Professional Continental team registration with the UCI, and will be seeking invitations to numerous prominent events in Europe and America during the 2008 season.
As both a former official within ASO and former CEO of the Phonak Cycling Team ProTour franchise, Lelangue brings a deep understanding of professional cycling and detailed knowledge of the races that will be the team’s European priorities.
John’s activities will not be limited to European races, however, as he also looks forward to being at many of the American events attended by BMC.
“Working with John will be an invaluable asset to the 2008 program. We seek to enter races at a level well above the 2007 calendar, and are recruiting riders and staff who have the ideal set of skills, experience and talents to enable the program to perform well as a Professional Continental team. John will be a key part of this collaboration.” says team manager Gavin Chilcott.
Lelangue has a long-standing friendship and outstanding rapport with BMC owner and primary team sponsor Andy Rihs. Lelangue’s first experience working with the BMC program was in May of 2007 when the team attended the Giro di Friuli-Venezia Giulia as it’s first European racing experience.
“Joining BMC is an exciting prospect,” says Lelangue. “It is an ideal fit for me not only because of my experience in European cycling, but also because I enjoy the challenges of being part of the creation and evolution of such a sports organization. BMC is a team with great future potential. We have assembled a highly motivated group of individuals that can accomplish great things during the upcoming years.” By this Lelangue is referring to business visionary Andy Rihs, and team managers Gavin Chilcott and Charlie Livermore.
The team will remain focused on the racing calendar of the United States, but will also maintain an emphasis on selected European events. This will be reflected in the team members, which will be comprised primarily of American and Swiss athletes.
