A stage tour in the country of the classics
In Belgium, cycling is the national sport, as nowhere else in the world there are so many cyclists, teams, fans and competitions concentrated. Although the most famous Belgian races are spring classics such as Liège - Bastogne - Liège, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Gent - Wevelgem or La Flèche Wallone, stage races also take place in Belgium. In fact, the Baloise Belgium Tour (commercial name for the Tour of Belgium) was first held in 1908 and is the second oldest stage race in the world, only behind the Tour de France (1903).
Route
This edition of the Baloise Belgium Tour is made up of 5 stages. Both the first and the fourth stage present undulating routes reminiscent of the spring classics, so we’ll have to look for the favorites for the general classification between classics riders. Stage 3 is a short 11-kilometer time trial with no place for huge time differences, and the remaining two stages (2 and 5) seem destined to a bunch sprint.
Favorites
Without the presence of a dominant rider like Remco Evenepoel (1200) was last year, this time the range of possible candidates for the final victory is more open than ever. Sprinters who can overcome short climbs well and can perform in the ITT such as Jasper Philipsen (1200), Arnaud de Lie (200) or Mads Pedersen (1000) can aspire to the general classification, although lighter riders will try to let them loose on the heights. Ide Schelling (400), Yves Lampaert (600), Tim Wellens (400), Mauri Vansevenant (400), Victor Campenaerts (400), Florian Sénéchal (600), Amaury Capiot (600), Gianni Vermersch (200), Quinten Hermans (200), Lorenzo Rota (200), Florian Vermeersch (200), Dries de Bondt (200) or Danny Van Poppel (600) are some of the main GC candidates.
For the sprints, apart from Philipsen, De Lie and Pedersen, the start list also includes Sam Bennett (1000), Fabio Jakobsen (800), Hugo Hoffstetter (600), Alberto Dainese (400), Stanislaw Aniolkowski (400) , Maximilian Walscheid (400), Jordi Meeus (400), Edward Theuns (200), Gerben Thijssen (200) and Kristoffer Halvorsen (400).