Philippe Gilbert cleared to ride Amstel Gold Race

Philippe Gilbert has received medical clearance to ride Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, despite fracturing a finger in an altercation with a driver last week.

Gilbert shared a photo on Instagram on Wednesday of his surgically repaired finger, saying he had been able to do a long training session despite having pins in the top of his finger.

"Gilbert has been given the medical all-clear from our Chief Medical Officer, Dr Max Testa, which is good news because Amstel Gold is a special race for both Gilbert and BMC Racing Team and we hope to continue our previous success at the race," said BMC sports director Valerio Piva.

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Gilbert has won the Amstel Gold Race three times, the last time being in 2014, but last year he faded having summited the final climb of the Cauberg first.

Michal Kwiatkowski took the title ahead of Alejandro Valverde, but Gilbert is optimistic he will be in good shape to challenge for the win this time round.

"I've had a disrupted start to the season with illness and injury so I hope to put all of this behind me and be at the front of the race on Sunday. I have been back on the bike in the last couple of days and put in a long session today so I'm confident that I'll be in a good shape to race," he said.

Gilbert could still face prosecution for the incident in which he broke his finger, with the driver involved claiming the Belgian used an illegal pepper spray on him.

BMC squad for Amstel Gold Race

Marcus Burghardt, Alessandro De Marchi, Silvan Dillier, Philippe Gilbert, Ben Hermans, Samuel Sanchez, Dylan Teuns, Loïc Vliegen.