12.06 - Prologue (Luxembourg) - 2.5 km
13.06 - Luxembourg - Hautcharage (180 km)
14. 06 - Schifflange - Walferdange (173 km)
15.06 - Eschweiler - Diekirch (177 km)
16.06 - Mersch - Luxembourg (143 km)
The Tour of Luxembourg has been pushed back this year due to a number of other sporting events taking place in the country at the time when it would normally run. Therefore it now collides with the Tour de Suisse instead of the Dauphiné. It also collides with Ster ZLM Toer and Route du Sud (both 2.1). If you ask me this makes for a weaker field - in past years some contenders would use this as a build-up for the Tour de Suisse, whereas few to none who have participated in the Dauphiné are on the start list. On the other hand I feel like the ProConti field is stronger with the additions of IAM and MTN Qhubeka for example.
The teams are:
AG2R La Mondiale (Belletti, Hutarovich)
Blanco Pro Cycling (Gesink, Ten Dam)
Euskaltel
Katyusha (Haller, Selig)
Radioshack - Leopard (Bakelants, Jungels, Nizzolo, Machado)
Team Saxo Tinkoff (Kroon, Boaro, C.A. Sorensen)
Vacansoleil - DCM (Feillu, Hoogerland, Marcato, D. Van Poppel)
Accent Jobs - Wanty (Drucker, Van Dijk)
Cofidis (Zingle)
Colombia - Coldeportes (Duque)
IAM Cycling
MTN Qhubeka (Ciolek)
Sojasun (Engoulvent, Hivert)
Team Europcar (Turgot, Gaudin)
Vini Fantini
Team Differdange
Luxembourg National Team
Start list:
http://www.aotdl.com/skoda-tour-de-luxembourg-2013/equipes-2013/liste-des-engagés/
The big names of the past like Armstrong, Klöden or Schlecks are missing this year. Only Gesink is there for his first race after the Giro IINM. Traditionally RSLT has tried to dominate this race, but this year they couldn't bring their biggest names and they have let go the likes of Fuglsang or Gerdemann who were able to win this type of small stage race. Instead I think they have tried to prepare Jungels for the leader role. It will be hard for him though. With a very technical prologue he will have to attack on stage 3 and I doubt that he could break away from the other main contenders. The likes of Bakelants, Machado and Nizzolo are also exciting prospects though. Note that Ben Hermans is out due to injury (replaced by Oliveira) and Ben King is unsure due to strep throat.
Other than that there should be an interesting battle of second rate sprinters going on, with Ciolek likely to dominate.
13.06 - Luxembourg - Hautcharage (180 km)
14. 06 - Schifflange - Walferdange (173 km)
15.06 - Eschweiler - Diekirch (177 km)
16.06 - Mersch - Luxembourg (143 km)
The Tour of Luxembourg has been pushed back this year due to a number of other sporting events taking place in the country at the time when it would normally run. Therefore it now collides with the Tour de Suisse instead of the Dauphiné. It also collides with Ster ZLM Toer and Route du Sud (both 2.1). If you ask me this makes for a weaker field - in past years some contenders would use this as a build-up for the Tour de Suisse, whereas few to none who have participated in the Dauphiné are on the start list. On the other hand I feel like the ProConti field is stronger with the additions of IAM and MTN Qhubeka for example.
The teams are:
AG2R La Mondiale (Belletti, Hutarovich)
Blanco Pro Cycling (Gesink, Ten Dam)
Euskaltel
Katyusha (Haller, Selig)
Radioshack - Leopard (Bakelants, Jungels, Nizzolo, Machado)
Team Saxo Tinkoff (Kroon, Boaro, C.A. Sorensen)
Vacansoleil - DCM (Feillu, Hoogerland, Marcato, D. Van Poppel)
Accent Jobs - Wanty (Drucker, Van Dijk)
Cofidis (Zingle)
Colombia - Coldeportes (Duque)
IAM Cycling
MTN Qhubeka (Ciolek)
Sojasun (Engoulvent, Hivert)
Team Europcar (Turgot, Gaudin)
Vini Fantini
Team Differdange
Luxembourg National Team
Start list:
http://www.aotdl.com/skoda-tour-de-luxembourg-2013/equipes-2013/liste-des-engagés/
The big names of the past like Armstrong, Klöden or Schlecks are missing this year. Only Gesink is there for his first race after the Giro IINM. Traditionally RSLT has tried to dominate this race, but this year they couldn't bring their biggest names and they have let go the likes of Fuglsang or Gerdemann who were able to win this type of small stage race. Instead I think they have tried to prepare Jungels for the leader role. It will be hard for him though. With a very technical prologue he will have to attack on stage 3 and I doubt that he could break away from the other main contenders. The likes of Bakelants, Machado and Nizzolo are also exciting prospects though. Note that Ben Hermans is out due to injury (replaced by Oliveira) and Ben King is unsure due to strep throat.
Other than that there should be an interesting battle of second rate sprinters going on, with Ciolek likely to dominate.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram