Procycling

Tour of Belgium

24 28 May, 2. HC, Belgium

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Bike racing in Belgium doesn't begin and end with the Classics, and the country's national tour, a tough ive-day a fair, takes place at the end of May. The crucial GC action is set to take place on days three and four: there's a 13.4km TT, and then an incursion into the hills of Wallonia with a stage starting and inishing in Ans, where LiègeBasto­gne-Liège also ends. The GC winner will have emerged by the time the race gets back to Ans. The Belgium Tour can't escape the Classics, however. After an opening day designed for the sprinters, stage two, between Knokke-Heist and Moorslede in West Flanders, takes in the Monteberg and Kemmelberg, which are regular and crucial ixtures in GentWevelg­em. The Ans stage will borrow the Côte de St-Nicolas, the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons and La Redoute, as well as the inishing climb to Ans from Liège-BastogneLi­ège. You only have to look at the winners' list since 2002, when the race was re-establishe­d after a decade-long hiatus, to see what a tough and important race it is. It includes Tom Boonen, Sylvain Chavanel, Stijn Devolder, Philippe Gilbert and Greg Van Avermaet. Mr 'Tour of Belgium' is Germany's Tony Martin, however, whose three wins in the event, taken between 2012 and 2014, are a record.

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