Tour de Wallonie 2020 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

August 16, 2020

Tour de Wallonie 2020 – Stage 1 – Soignies – Templeuve : 187 km

The 2020 VOO–Tour de Wallonie is a four-stage men’s professional road cycling race mainly held in the Belgian region of Wallonia. It is a 2.Pro race as part of the 2020 UCI Europe Tour and the inaugural 2020 UCI ProSeries. It is the forty-seventh edition of the Tour de Wallonie, starting on 16 August in Soignies and finishing on 19 August in Erezée. It was originally scheduled for 27 – 31 July, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to mid-August after the UCI’s May calendar update and was shortened from five stages like in years prior to four stages.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) emerged late to win a hectic, rain-soaked opening sprint at the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium. The Australia came along the barriers to beat Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Belgian national champion Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix).

“The whole day was quite nice until it started raining with one hour to go,” Ewan said in a team press release. “The rain and cobbles on the finishing circuit made it a super nervous run-up to the final sprint. My team did a good job in keeping me close to the front. In the end, I was a little bit far, but that was perfect since my competitors launched the sprint very early and I could come back in the final metres.”

Mark Cavendish (Bahrain McLaren) was also in the thick of the action until the final metres but then slipped back and touched shoulders with other riders, losing position.

The opening stage of the Tour de Wallonie offered the men’s field a 185 race from Soignies to Templeuve, and despite two second-category climbs inside the last 60km, the day was meant for the sprinters.

A five-man breakaway cleared the field early in the race to include Julien Duval (AG2R La Mondiale), Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix), Julien Van den Brande (Tarteletto-Isorex), Jens Reynders (Hagens Berman Axeon) and Tom Paquot (Wallonie-Bruxelles Development Team). The riders gained a maximum of five minutes.

The teams with strong sprinters took control and brought the gap down to two minutes. They passed over the two ascents and successfully closed the gap to the breakaway on the final circuits in Templeuve.

It started to rain as the peloton orbited the final circuits, but that didn’t seem to affect the field. It was a straight and nontechnical sprint finish and so the sprint teams had plenty of opportunities to safely jostle for positioning.

In the end, it was Ewan who took the win by a narrow margin ahead of Bennett and Merlier.

Ewan will wear the leader’s jersey into stage 2’s 172km race from Frasnes-Lez-Anvaing to Wavre.

“I want to defend the leader’s jersey tomorrow and maybe even the day after tomorrow if I have good climbing legs. But the fourth stage will be too hard for me. With Philippe Gilbert we have someone in great form and he knows the local roads. So he will target the GC for team Lotto Soudal,” Ewan said.

Results :
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 4:17:20
2 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
3 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
4 Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Riwal Readynez
5 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
6 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
7 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
9 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
10 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
11 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Bingoal WB
12 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
13 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
14 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
15 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
16 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
17 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
18 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
19 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
20 Andre Carvalho (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
21 Piotr Havik (Ned) Riwal Readynez
22 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
23 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
24 Ryan Kamp (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
25 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
26 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
27 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
28 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
29 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
30 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
31 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
32 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
33 August Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez
34 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
35 Jens Reynders (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon
36 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Bingoal WB
37 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
38 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
39 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
40 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
41 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
42 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
43 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
44 Roy Jans (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
45 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
46 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
47 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
48 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
49 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
50 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
51 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
52 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
53 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
54 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Ineos
55 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
56 James Fouche (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon
57 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
58 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
59 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
60 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
61 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team
62 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
63 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez
64 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH
65 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep
66 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
67 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
68 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
69 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
70 Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH
71 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
72 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
73 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
74 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
75 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
76 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
77 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez
78 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
79 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
80 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
81 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
82 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
83 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
84 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
85 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
86 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH
87 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
88 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
89 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
90 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
91 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
92 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
93 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
94 Isaac Canton Serrano (Spa) Burgos-BH
95 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Team Ineos
96 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Bingoal WB
97 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH
98 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Lions
99 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
100 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
101 Jacob Relaes (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
102 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
103 Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Lions
104 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
105 Toon Vandebosch (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
106 Lars Van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
107 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
108 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
109 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
110 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
111 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
112 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
113 Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
114 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
115 Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
116 Lars Van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Lions
117 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos
118 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Lions
119 Donavan Vincent Grondin (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:17
120 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
121 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:24
122 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:27
123 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:28
124 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:32
125 Jakob Egholm (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon
126 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
127 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
128 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:53
129 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:59
130 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:12
131 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:01:15
132 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:01:23
133 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:37
134 Yentl Bekaert (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:01:58
135 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:02:25
136 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:02:28
137 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
138 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
139 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie
140 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
141 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez
142 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
143 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
144 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal WB
145 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
146 Pim Ronhaar (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
147 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
148 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
149 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
150 Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:06:27
151 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:07:25
152 Julien Van den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
153 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling 0:07:44

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 4:17:10
2 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:02
3 Jens Reynders (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:00:03
4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:04
5 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:06
6 Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Riwal Readynez 0:00:10
7 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
8 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
9 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
11 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
12 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
13 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Bingoal WB
14 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
15 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
16 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
17 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
18 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
19 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
20 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
21 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
22 Andre Carvalho (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
23 Piotr Havik (Ned) Riwal Readynez
24 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
25 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
26 Ryan Kamp (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
27 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
28 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
29 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
30 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
31 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
32 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
33 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
34 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
35 August Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez
36 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
37 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Bingoal WB
38 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
39 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
40 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
41 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
42 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
43 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
44 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
45 Roy Jans (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
46 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
47 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
48 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
49 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
50 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
51 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
52 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
53 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
54 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
55 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Ineos
56 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
57 James Fouche (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon
58 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
59 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
60 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
61 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team
63 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
64 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez
65 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH
66 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep
67 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
68 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
69 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
70 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
71 Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH
72 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
73 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
74 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
75 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
76 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
77 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
78 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez
79 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
80 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
81 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
82 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
83 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
84 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
85 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
86 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH
87 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
88 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
89 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
90 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
91 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
92 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
93 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
94 Isaac Canton Serrano (Spa) Burgos-BH
95 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Team Ineos
96 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Bingoal WB
97 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH
98 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Lions
99 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
100 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
101 Jacob Relaes (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
102 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
103 Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Lions
104 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
105 Toon Vandebosch (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
106 Lars Van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
107 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
108 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
109 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
110 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
111 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
112 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
113 Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
114 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
115 Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
116 Lars Van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Lions
117 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos
118 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Lions
119 Donavan Vincent Grondin (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
120 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
121 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:34
122 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:37
123 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:38
124 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:42
125 Jakob Egholm (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon
126 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
127 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
128 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:03
129 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:01:09
130 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:22
131 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:01:25
132 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:01:33
133 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:47
134 Yentl Bekaert (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:02:08
135 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:02:35
136 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:36
137 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:02:37
138 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:02:38
139 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
140 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
141 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie
142 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
143 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez
144 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
145 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
146 Pim Ronhaar (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
147 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
148 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
149 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
150 Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:06:37
151 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:07:35
152 Julien Van den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
153 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling 0:07:54