The peloton has not been racing in Belgium for nearly a month.  At the end of the spring classics, the riders had to desert the flat country in order to race other events on the European continent, or perhaps to take well-earned breaks from competition before resuming their season. 

Such was the case for IAM Cycling’s DriesDevenyns. 

“I have not raced for five weeks.  But I do feel those good sensations coming back.  After being out of competition for so long, it is always hard to know how one will measure up to the other riders.  So I am looking forward to getting into the thick of the action again and finding out more accurately where my condition stands.”

For the Belgian Devenyns, as well as the other riders in the peloton, this question of form will not remain open too much longer.  With a parcours full of the sorts of difficulties for which the Belgian landscape is renowned, each stage of the Belgian Tour will offer a key moment in the struggle for the overall classification.  

“There is not one easy day,” Devenyns, who comes from Leuven, said.  “For the second stage, we will have to be very alert to avoid being caught out in echelons.  Then the difficulties really begin.  Every day of this race is like a classic.  In any case, I have gone to reconnoiter some of the areas we will race through.” 

Luckily Dries Devenyns knows his home country very well.  Even so, with climbs like the Leberg, the Valkenberg, and the Small Poggio (which finishes at the Eau d'Heure lakes near Cerfontaine) on the menu, there is enough for everyone to come away well sated.

This year, the Tour of Belgium not only wants to be challenging, and innovative.  Evidence of this comes in the form of a new concept that the race organization is calling the golden kilometer. 

“In the last 20 kilometers of the stages, there will be three sprints spread over a kilometer.” Dries Devenyns explained.  “The winner of each sprint will win three bonus seconds.  I think this could really make a difference in who will end up first in the GC.  But the race on the whole will be so difficult that there will be a sharp selection even without this novelty.  That said, the teams with real ambitions for the overall will certainly participate.  One thing is certain: it’s going to get very lively.”

Riders :

Marcel Aregger (S)

Matthias Brändle (Aut)

Dries Devenyns (Bel)

Martin Elmiger (S)

Sondre Holst Enger (Nor)

Jonas Van Genechten (Bel)

Simon Pellaud (S)

Vicente Reynes (Sp)