The Baloise Belgium Tour takes place from the 12th to the 16th of June and has become one of the most popular preparation races for the Tour de France, especially for sprinters and classics riders! Let's take a look at its profiles.
Stage 1 (ITT): Beringen - Beringen, 12 kilometers
The race starts off in the town of Beringen with a 12-kilometer time-trial. This is an important day for the overall classification; the course is long enough to create differences and in such a short race they won't be easy to get back. It will set an order before the difficult days.
Stage 2. Merelbeke - Knokke-Heist, 184.2 kilometers
Stage 2 takes place from Merelbeke and Knokke-Heist and is 184 kilometers long. A day for the sprinters, where the wind may play a role but overall the profile doesn't have too many difficulties. There is a slight uphill finish but the fast men will enjoy the route.
Stage 3: Turnhout - Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, 188.3 kilometers
The third stage of the race goes into Flandrien roads which are, as always, tense and explosive. The day ends in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem and ultimately, the final few small bergs and cobbled sectors provide opportunities for the race to explode.
Stage 4: Durbuy - Durbuy, 177 kilometers
The fourth day of the race starts and finished in the city of Durbuy and follows a hilly circuit. This is a very hard day where the classics specialists and all riders in good form will try to make the difference. The overall classification can be decided on this day, which features a lot of climbing and rolling terrain.
Stage 5: Brussel - Brussel, 186.2 kilometers
The race ends in the Belgium capital of Brussel. It's a day that should end in a sprint, although the finale definitely isn't pan-flat and not only the sprinters, but the GC contenders have to be at the very front to avoid losing something they have won the previous days.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
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.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
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)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
- And the place he calls home is in Slovenia with his parents.RidesHills04-11-2026
- I think Tadej will be working on his new C7 TT position for the Tour de France :-)frieders304-11-2026
- Every great cyclist has at least two Giro/Tour doubles, and in modern cycling or what we call modern cycling, Miguel Indurain is the only guy to do it twice. I think Tadej should go for it and commit if he is putting up good numbers somewhere around January/February.awp04-11-2026
- the 6th TDF is a more record breaking opportunity than a 2nd Giro. Jonas can double up. For Remco its TDF. For Sexias it will be a good opportunity but as usual TDF will be his main goal For del Toro, yes good opportunityabstractengineer04-11-2026
- Well, this is something which isn't all that common
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - He lives in MonacoRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- It's also highly significant for Lorenzo Finn as he won there last year. Also Mateo Ramírez and Henrique Bravo if they goRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
Loading
We proudly present: the winners of the Baloise Belgium Tour 2023 🥳 #BaloiseBelgiumTour
Write a comment