Race Preview: May 23 – 31

BALOISE BELGIUM TOUR (2.HC)

The 86th edition of the Baloise Belgium Tour starts this Wednesday with a course providing opportunities for every type of rider to shine. The five-stage race gets underway with a prologue of 6km in Bornem, followed by the traditional sprint stage from Buggenhout to Knokke-Heist on Thursday. On Friday, the riders head into the Flemish Ardennes featuring three hills on the course: the Valkenberg, the Leberg, and the Berendries, as well as the cobblestone sections of the Paddestraat and Lippenhovestraat to tackle in the last 10km. The queen stage on Saturday will be decisive for the overall victory with the day’s course including the climb of the Côte de la Redoute. On the last day, the peloton rides to Tongeren and will finish with a local lap to be completed three times with some steep hills.

The Baloise Belgium Tour will be the first race for Max Walscheid (GER) since the training accident earlier this year and the team is delighted to see him racing again.

Coach Arthur van Dongen (NED) said: “The overall objective is to go for stage results instead of having general classification ambitions in Belgium. For the fast finishes we will prepare the sprint for Zico. On the hillier stages, we have Simon who is able to compete on the tougher sections of the course.”

RACE
Baloise Belgium Tour (2.HC)

DATE
25-29/05/2016

WEBSITE
www.sport.be

COACH
Arthur van Dongen (NED)
LINE-UP
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Lars van der Haar (NED)
Fredrik Ludvigsson (SWE)
Sam Oomen (NED)
Zico Waeytens (BEL)
Max Walscheid (GER).

BOELS RENTAL HILLS CLASSIC (1.1)

Team Liv-Plantur returns to action on Friday with the Boels Hills Classic, recognized as the toughest one-day race in the Netherlands. The parcours is a total distance of 131.4km and features fifteen climbs, making it a very selective course.

“Usually, this race is decided during two key climbs; the Camerig and the Cauberg,” explained coach Hans Timmermans (NED). “Within our line-up we have a few riders who are just behind the top climbers, so we will have to adapt our approach to that. We will try to be ahead of the big attacks or come back strongly with a second group.

“When the group is still together in the finale, Floortje will be our sprinter. Last year she did a good job to survive the Camerig with the group of favourites and we are aiming for a good result on Friday.”

RACE
Boels Rental Hills Classic (1.1)

DATE
27/05/2016

WEBSITE
www.hollandhillsclassic.eu

COACH
Hans Timmermans (NED)
LINE-UP
Floortje Mackaij (NED)
Riejanne Markus (NED)
Rozanne Slik (NED)
Kyara Stijns (NED)
Carlee Taylor (AUS)
Molly Weaver (GBR).

GOOIK-GERAARDSBERGEN-GOOIK (1.1)

The women’s team continues with the 6th edition of Gooik-Geraardsbergen-Gooik. The Belgian one-day race consists of an initial round of 23km, followed by one large loop of 73km, featuring some tough hills such as the Muur van Geraardsbergen, the Bosberg and the Congoberg. In the finale, the riders take on four local laps of 10km, each time climbing the Bergstraat.

Looking ahead to the race, coach Hans Timmermans (NED) said: “The course has changed slightly in comparison to last year, but I am expecting a similar race to previous editions. The result will be decided on the Muur and we have to be in a good position ahead of the climb. In the finale, there should be around 20-30 riders fighting out for the victory and we will be supporting Floortje as our leader and aiming for a top 10 result.”

RACE
Gooik-Geraardsbergen-Gooik (1.1)

DATE
29/05/2016

WEBSITE
www.sprintersgooik.com

COACH
Hans Timmermans (NED)
LINE-UP
Floortje Mackaij (NED)
Riejanne Markus (NED)
Rozanne Slik (NED)
Sara Mustonen (SWE)
Julia Soek (NED)
Molly Weaver (GBR).