Description
July 23, 2023
Tour de Wallonie 2023 – Stage 2 – Saint-Ghislain – Walcourt : 179,7 km
Founded in 1974 but raced by amateurs until 1996, the Ethias Tour de Wallonie is a five-day stage race held in the French-speaking south of Belgium.
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July 23, 2023
Tour de Wallonie 2023 – Stage 2 – Saint-Ghislain – Walcourt : 179,7 km
Founded in 1974 but raced by amateurs until 1996, the Ethias Tour de Wallonie is a five-day stage race held in the French-speaking south of Belgium. The Wallonia region also plays host to one-day races, the Ethias Tour de Wallonie is characterised by an abundance of short, sharp climbs and rolling roads. Nine WorldTour teams, five ProTeams, two Continental teams and one Cyclo-cross pro team will line up at this year’s race, with Alpecin-Deceuninck, Soudal-Quick Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Lidl-Trek all bringing strong teams. Alpecin-Deceuninck took the overall title with Robert Stannard last year, but the 24-year-old Australian will not be back to defend his crown. Instead, the likes of Mauro Schmid (Soudal-Quick Step), Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) and Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) may all vy for the win. Alongside one lengthy time trial of 32.7km, the race is more akin to four separate one-day races than an actual stage race and – for that reason – tends to favour the Classics specialists like Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), Dylan Teuns (Israel Premier-Tech), Niki Terpstra and Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën) – all winners of this race in the past ten years. Since the race opened its doors to pro riders in 1996, only one has managed to win multiple editions – Van Avermaet in 2011 and 2013.
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) showed he is back to his top speed after his serious crash in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque in May, taking a convincing sprint victory on stage 2 of the Tour de Wallonie in Walcourt.
The Belgian bested compatriot Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) with Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Elia Viviani (Ineos) just behind.
With the win, De Lie took the race lead off the shoulders of stage 1 winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos).
Results :
, Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) and Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) may all vy for the win. Alongside one lengthy time trial of 32.7km, the race is more akin to four separate one-day races than an actual stage race and - for that reason - tends to favour the Classics specialists like Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), Dylan Teuns (Israel Premier-Tech), Niki Terpstra and Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën) - all winners of this race in the past ten years. Since the race opened its doors to pro riders in 1996, only one has managed to win multiple editions - Van Avermaet in 2011 and 2013.
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) showed he is back to his top speed after his serious crash in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque in May, taking a convincing sprint victory on stage 2 of the Tour de Wallonie in Walcourt.
The Belgian bested compatriot Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) with Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Elia Viviani (Ineos) just behind.
With the win, De Lie took the race lead off the shoulders of stage 1 winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos).
<strong>Results : </strong>
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