Wellens takes on Terpstra, Boom and Gilbert in Eneco Tour defence
Boonen, Guardini, Viviani and Nizzolo lead the sprint competition
The gears of the WorldTour calendar continue to turn with the week-long Eneco Tour beginning on Monday, August 10. The Dutch-Belgian stage-race more often than not delivers plenty of action, helped in part by its Classics-style terrain. Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) returns to wear the number one dossard, after claiming a hard-fought victory in the general classification last year.
This year’s race is very much one of two parts, split in the middle by a 14-kilometre time trial. The first half of the race offers up plenty of opportunities for the sprinters in the bunch with not a single classified climb in the first three stages. Day one sees the peloton up in the north of the Netherlands in Bolsward, where the costal winds could be a huge factor. Stage and GC hopefuls will have to keep their wits about them if they don’t want to get left behind.
The riders come closer to the border for stage 2, dipping into Belgium briefly as they take a southerly loop out and back to Breda. It is another chance for the fast men with their final opportunity coming the following day as they race from Beveren to Ardooie.
Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) will be looking to make the most of these opening days as he tries to give his season a boost ahead of the World Championships next month. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) will be a strong contender in the bunch sprints, as will Elia Viviani (Team Sky), Andrea Guardini (Astana), Rick Zabel (BMC), Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida).
The focus turns towards the GC riders with the stage 4 time trial around Hoogerheide. The 14km test twists and turns around the Dutch city and a sea breeze could make like a touch more difficult for the riders. It is here that the likes of Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep), Chris Juul-Jensen (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) could make a difference. Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) is also set to ride but, considering his injuries, a stage win here will be a challenge.
Defending champion Wellens will be back into his preferred terrain in the final three days of the race. Beginning in Riemst, Belgium and finishing in Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands, the fifth stage takes the riders over 27 hills, many of which feature in the Amstel Gold parcours.
The next day, the riders will head out of the Netherlands and return to Belgium and into the Ardennes. In this penultimate stage, the peloton have Côte Saint-Roche to contend with, a kilometre-long climb that averages 11 per cent, on two occasions.
The final stage from St.Pieters-Leeuw to Geraardsbergen is no parade for the race leader with 18 climbs and six stretches of pavé to tackle, including a finish on the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Greg van Avermaet won last season when the race visited it on stage 5.
Other contenders for the overall victory are Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Lars Boom (Astana), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) and Jens Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEdge).
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Cofidis climbs above Picnic-PostNL as Arkéa-B&B Hotels continues to flounder in WorldTour relegation clash
Uno-X Mobility still lead XDS Astana as Arkéa-B&B Hotels gains only six points -
Guidelines to eliminate 'huge impact' of drafting in women's races coming to Life Time Grand Prix series
'How to enforce it and how do you enforce it fairly' are the big questions on rule which will be implemented from Sea Otter Classic Gravel -
Eyewitness – Tactical blunder turns Wout van Aert and Visma-Lease a Bike's 'perfect' day at the Classics into a nightmare
Cyclingnews captures the emotions of a disaster day for Dutch team at Dwars door Vlaanderen -
'A ton of weight was lifted off my chest' - Neilson Powless proves his one-day race prowess with Dwars door Vlaanderen win
After riding more than 50km with a trio of Visma riders, 'I fully did not believe I was going for the win until 100 meters from the line' says EF Education-EasyPost rider