While the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse are the two most important preparation races for the Tour de France, there are still a few riders who prefer to take a different route. Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen will represent Alpecin-Deceuninck in the Baloise Belgium Tour, so get ready for some attacking spirit and sprint watts. In this preview, IDLProCycling.com take a closer look at the upcoming race.
2022 Mauro Schmid
2021 Remco Evenepoel2020 Not ridden
2019 Remco Evenepoel
2018 Jens Keukeleire
2017 Jens Keukeleire
2016 Dries Devenyns
2015 Greg Van Avermaet
2014 Tony Martin
2013 Tony Martin
On the first day, the riders will immediately face a challenging stage with no less than twelve climbs along the way. These climbs are divided into two loops, with Wijndries and Kerkstraat being the most frequently climbed. Plenty of room to launch an attack, we'd say.
Climbs
11.7 km: Houwaartberg (600 meters at 5.3%)
18.9 km: Roeselberg (1.3 km at 4.0%)
27.7 km: Kerkstraat (800 meters at 3.3%)
31.7 km: Wijndries (600 meters at 5.2%)
58.8 km: Houwaartberg (600 meters at 5.3%)
66.0 km: Roeselberg (1.3 km at 4.0%)
74.8 km: Kerkstraat (800 meters at 3.3%)
78.8 km: Wijndries (600 meters at 5.2%)
110.7 km: Kerkstraat (800 meters at 3.3%)
114.7 km: Wijndries (600 meters at 5.2%)
146.6 km: Kerkstraat (800 meters at 3.3%)
150.6 km: Wijndries (600 meters at 5.2%)
Favorites
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Yves Lampaert (Soudal-Quick Step)
Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo)
Times
Start: 1:20 p.m.
Finish: Around 5:10 p.m.
Day two is for the fast men who also have a good punch uphill. There are plenty of meters of elevation gain along the way, but there are no categorized climbs in this stage. The finish line is located right after a small hill in Knokke-Heist.
Climbs
None
Favorites
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo)
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Times
Start: 1:40 p.m.
Finish: Around 4:49 p.m.
Riders with general classification ambitions will have to show what they can do on Friday, when it's time for an individual time trial around Beveren, covering 15.2 kilometers. The route is never really flat in this stage, making it a power time trial. Who will take control?
Climbs
None
Favorites
Yves Lampaert (Soudal-Quick Step)
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Jannik Steimle (Soudal-Quick Step)
Times
Start first rider: 2:08 p.m.
Finish last rider: Around 5:03 p.m.
If one may speak of a queen stage, day four seems to be the most appropriate one. The stage offers four local loops around Durbuy, each including six climbs. These climbs are spicier than those on day one, so we can expect an exciting battle.
Climbs
2.3 km: Champs des Hêtres (2.1 km at 2.7%)
14.2 km: Petitesomme (2.2 km at 5.8%)
29.0 km: Côte de Hermanne (2.2 km at 5.8%)
32.9 km: Grand Houmart (1.0 km at 4.9%)
39.9 km: Mur de Durbuy (1.2 km at 6.2%)
The loop is ridden four times.
Favorites
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Dstny)
Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM)
Times
Start: 12:45 p.m.
Finish: Around 5:08 p.m.
On the final day, we race around Brussels. On paper, the riders will face only one categorized climb, but in reality, there will be frequent ups and downs. Once again, the route consists of two loops, first a larger one of over one hundred kilometers, followed by two local laps on a smaller final circuit.
Climbs
65.3 km: Putberg (600 meters at 2.5%)
Favorites
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step)
Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny)
Times
Start: 12:30 p.m.
Finish: Around 5:15 p.m.
Mathieu van der Poel skipped the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse because he prefers racing to win. In Belgium, he can do just that, and he has studied the route book well. With a bit of imagination, Van der Poel could go for victory on all five days, although his teammate Jasper Philipsen might score a win here and there as well. Both riders are in good form, with Philipsen just having won the Elfstedenronde on Sunday. So, both of them should be considered strong contenders for a good overall classification on behalf of Alpecin-Deceuninck.
On paper, the main rival seems to be Soudal-Quick Step, which has interesting names such as Yves Lampaert, Jannik Steimle and Casper Pedersen. Lampaert and Pedersen have already shown their strength in Dwars door het Hageland and Steimle could make his move for the general classification with a good time trial.
Thibau Nys
At Trek-Segafredo, all eyes are on Thibau Nys, who recently boldly won the Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau and also claimed a stage in the Tour of Norway. The still very young Belgian is in top form and the course suits him well. Jasper Stuyven is the perfect decoy to assist in this, and with good legs he can even go for the overall win.
But that's not all, because we also have Florian Vermeersch from Lotto-Dstny or Nils Eekhoff, stage winner at ZLM Tour from Team DSM. Furthermore, riders such as Sep Vanmarcke (Israel) and Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché) are worthy of a mention as well, as they may not be frequent winners but are class riders that have the potential.
Top favorite: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Outsiders: Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo), Yves Lampaert (Soudal-Quick Step) and Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Dstny)
Long shots: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jannik Steimle (Soudal-Quick Step), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM)
The Tour of Belgium will be broadcast live on Sporza and Eurosport from Wednesday to Sunday. The Belgian coverage starts at 3:00 p.m. on VRT, and you can follow the race online at Eurosport.com.
Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg)
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