PREVIEW | Baloise Belgium Tour 2023 stage 4 - Mathieu van der Poel to defend race lead on hilly explosive day
Cycling
Preview stage 4. From the 14th to 18th of June the riders take on the Baloise Belgium Tour, a race that is very popular among those preparing for the national championships, Tour de France but also the stage for an internal battle among the vast Belgian peloton.
Stage 4 is as explosive as it could be. The town of Durbuy hosts the start and finish to this hilly day and the whole stage consists of a circuit around it's rolling hills. 2Km at 6% and 1Km at 6% will are the details of the two main climbs in the circuit that come with around 10 kilometers to go, but the finale itself is tough with the final 900 meters featuring ramps of over 10% towards the line.
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Stage 4: Durbuy - Durbuy, 172.6 kilometers
Prediction Baloise Belgium Tour 2023 stage 4:
*** Mathieu van der Poel
** Rasmus Tiller, Jasper Stuyven, Casper Pedersen
* Stan van Tricht, Thibau Nys, Lorenzo Rota, Florian Vermeersch, Ben Hermans, Vincenzo Albanese
** Rasmus Tiller, Jasper Stuyven, Casper Pedersen
* Stan van Tricht, Thibau Nys, Lorenzo Rota, Florian Vermeersch, Ben Hermans, Vincenzo Albanese
Pick: Mathieu van der Poel
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- A great champion but a better human. jus' sayin'
Davide15-11-2026 - Congrats! It is done so now is time for CX.averagecyclist15-11-2026
- It's going to happen at some point. It will happen to Tadej as well, we all get older. Jonas was in pretty great form at the tour. I still consider him a top two or three cyclist in the world, until he's not.awp15-11-2026
- mij, I am not so sure of that. I have been on a spine ward at a Denver hospital that had quite a few spinal injuries from mountain biking.BDBigGuy15-11-2026
- Pogi takes care of his teammates in races and training. Tadej Pogačar is widely praised within the cycling peloton for his fair and egalitarian leadership, actively supporting his UAE teammates both on the road during races and behind the scenes at training camps. Rather than acting like an untouchable superstar, he has intense team loyalty by sharing daily chores, giving up personal glory to help domestiques, and publicly praising their sacrifices. Unlike some Grand Tour contenders, like Vingegaard, who occasionally train away from their squads, Pogi consistently attends team training camps alongside his domestiques, making the exact same sacrifices to build friendship. I love how Pogačar shares his teammates-domestiques, either when they succeed or win in races or when they simply just do a good job for him. It has to be a great moral boost for them. And then they work even harder and go even deeper for Pogi. This is teamwork.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- Yeah, what he said!Lozza15-11-2026
- I’m sure Jasper Philipsen would disagree with you.Lozza15-11-2026
- Article says he was “out for a spin around the town”, implying not off-road.Lozza15-11-2026
- let’s be honest, Alpecin is all about one rider - MVDP. I’m sure he gets whatever he needs, the rest get the scraps.mij15-11-2026
- there are more vicious injuries on a road bike than a mountain bike far and away.mij15-11-2026
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.@baloise_be is er tijdens de Baloise Belgium Tour. En ook tijdens het toertje rond de blok. Baloise, trotse sponsor van de Baloise Belgium Tour. #baloisebelgiumtour #wielrennen #uciproseries #trotsesponsor #baloise
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