Preview. From the 22nd to 26th of July the race outside France at the highest level returns, the
Tour de Wallonie will be one of the preparation races for the World Championships and will provide explosive racing.
The race will begin in Huy, a landmark in the region. It's an explosive day with several hilltops towards the finale, with three intermediate sprints all the top of small ascents. The ride into Hamoir will see a downhill finale, it's definitely a route that favours late attacks. Stage 2 takes the riders from Saint-Ghisland to Walcourt and it's a classic Walloon day. On paper it could quite well be for the sprinters if the teams manage to to control it, however it features a lot of rolling roads and a few difficult bumps towards the finale where differences can be made.
Stage 3 is the one that features a summit finish. It is not categorized but the day will see plenty explosive climbing. The middle of the day features several climbs but most will likely save their legs for the final 10 kilometes where there are roads to make a difference, it's going to be quite an exciting run for the line in Mont-Saint-Guibert.
Stage 1: Huy - Hamoir, 189.4 kilometers
Stage 2: Saint-Ghislain - Walcourt, 180.1 kilometers
Stage 3: Thuin - Mont-Saint-Guibert, 187.3 kilometers
The decisive day of the race will be the time-trial. It's 32 kilometers long, clearly in order to lure the riders who want to prepare for the time-trial World Championships. It's a very long one, for example more than the Tour de France itself. It's mostly flat and well suited to the specialists.
The race ends on the fifth day but it is by no means an easy one. After the time-trial, the final day of racing is also the longest with 214 kilometers on the menu, eight classified climbs and plenty small ascents all throughout the day. A grinding and very open day where it's hard to preview how it'll go, the GC can be played out from far but it can come to a bunch sprint and everything inbetween.
Stage 4 (ITT): Mons - Mons, 32.5 kilometers
Stage 5: Banneux (Sprimont) - Aubel, 214 kilometers
Prediction Tour de Wallonie 2023 overall classification:
***
Filippo Ganna**
Bruno Armirail,
Joshua Tarling* Jannik Steimle, Thibau Nys, Arnaud De Lie, Brent van Moer, Luke Plapp, Mauro Schmid
Pick: Filippo Ganna
