Eneco Tour 2014 (2.WT), 11.08 - 17/08

[Maaaaaaaarten]

At the beginning of this thread, I would like to point out that this race has 58 categorized climbs.

stage 1 Terneuzen - Terneuzen, 181,9km
flat sprint stage

stage 2 Waalwijk - Vlijmen 177,4km
flat sprint stage

stage 3 ITT Breda - Breda 9,6km

stage 4 Kokzijde - Ardooie 183,3km
flat sprint stage

stage 5 Geraardsbergen - Geraardsbergen 160.3km

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

stage 6 Heerlen - Aywaille 173.3km

stage 7 Sittard - Geleen 183.4km

Notable Participants
1. Omega Pharma Quickstep - Stybar, Boonen
2. Belkin - Boom, Mollema
3. Lotto Belisol - Greipel, Roelandts
4. BMC - Gilbert, Van Avermaet
5. Trek - Cancellara, Nizzolo
6. Cannondale - Moser, Marcato
7. Sky - Boasson Hagen, Thomas
8. Giant Shimano - Dumoulin, Mezgec
9. Garmin Sharp - Langeveld, Navardauskas
10. Saxo Tinkoff - Breschel, Kroon
11. Orica Greenedge - Howard, Keukeleire
12. FDJ - Bouhanni, Offredo
13. Katusha - Tsatevich, Porsev
14. Astana - Bozic, Guardini
15. Movistar - Gutierrez, Rojas
16. Lampre Merida - Modolo, Favilli
17. AG2R - Appollonio, Gougeard
18. Europcar - Gene, Martinez
19. Topsport Vlaanderen Baloise - Van Staeyen, Lampaert
20. Wanty Groupe Gobert - Leukemans, Drucker

 

[Bushman]

Good course. We're in for a nice battle between the Puncheurs and the cobble experts.

 

[Red Rick]

Is there a KOM competition?

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Is there a KOM competition?

Nope I don't think so. I'll admit I'm stretching the definition of 'categorized' to make the claim this race has 58 categorized climbs. But having 22 'climbs' on stage 7 just makes me lol

Last year this race was a good fight between Dumoulin and Stybar. It was actually fairly entertaining, despite the slack that this race usually gets. Well usually it's deserved, but last year the racing was good. Last year the sprint stages were more exciting though, Stybar took some seconds over Dumoulin in the gaps in the sprint stages and he even won a stage, but this year the three flat stages just look to be straightforward flat sprints. Only stage 1 is in Zeeland, so you never know what's up with the wind there, but I'm afraid it won't be too bad.

This year the TT is more straightforward flat, which should suit Dumoulin, but it's also shorter. Dumoulin and Stybar should be up there again methinks. There's a bunch of classics guys, all rounders, TT's who could do well, but they'll have to survive the Ardennes stage.

Boom will no doubt be strong, do well in the short TT which should suit him, do well in Geraardsbergen, and then get hyped only to disappoint and get dropped early in the Ardennes. But who knows what guys like Sagan, Boasson Hagen, Navardauskas, Thomas etc. can do. Especially Thomas seems to me to have the qualities to do very well here. He can do a very strong short TT, he's good on the cobbles, he's good on the hills......

Anyway, the current format of this race is quit nice I think and I think the race will be good again.

 

[roundabout]

From having too much TT kms they go to having too little.

Might as well leave it out completely and add another interesting road stage next year then

 

[Flamin]

Looking forward to this. At first sight, the final stage seems like a nice addition to the race, although maybe a bit too hard because it might take away some importance from the two classic decisive stages.

 

[manafana]

would have liked to see one stage of the first two be a little more tricky than a simple sprint stage.

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Greg Van Avermaet will be very tough to beat in this.

 

[Badeend]

would have liked to see one stage of the first two be a little more tricky than a simple sprint stage.

Watch out for the first stage in Terneuzen, next to the sea it can be very windy. They are expecting unstable weather for the entire week. Sunny, rainy, 5 beaufort ... it will be a tricky race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

This is a scary thing to say, but I quite like the race route.

Of the Eneco Tour.

 

[greenedge]

I think Thomas, Stybar and Gilbert are the favourites, Dumoulin has too little ITT km's but can still top 5, Sagan could ride well here too and with Cancellara who knows?

 

[ILovecycling]

This is a scary thing to say, but I quite like the race route.

Of the Eneco Tour.

If I didnt have full signature,I would quote it there


But yeah I agree,tt should be 3,4 km longer,but still its good.

 

[Kwibus]

This is a scary thing to say, but I quite like the race route.

Of the Eneco Tour.

Last 2 years the Eneco Tour was quite good. Making use of the best terrain Belgium and the Netherlands got to offer.
This year stage 5 and 6 look good, the final 'climbs' on stage 7 can't really be called a climb. I doubt stage 7 will be selective.

Should be a good race though with plenty of specialists at the start. Cancellara, Boom, Stybar, van Avermaet, Dumoulin just to name a few.

Edit: just looked at all the names and there are so much more possible winners. This could be a very open race. Sagan? Thomas? Gilbert? Classics specialists everywhere!

 

[del1962]

This race has no effect on WC RR qualification as it finishes after 15th August, is that correct?

 

[Jspear]

Greg Van Avermaet will be very tough to beat in this.

GVA will find a way to be 2nd. I'm hoping Gilbert does well. I'd like to see Cancellara do well also but I don't know how his form is right now.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Last 2 years the Eneco Tour was quite good. Making use of the best terrain Belgium and the Netherlands got to offer.
This year stage 5 and 6 look good, the final 'climbs' on stage 7 can't really be called a climb. I doubt stage 7 will be selective.

Should be a good race though with plenty of specialists at the start. Cancellara, Boom, Stybar, van Avermaet, Dumoulin just to name a few.

Edit: just looked at all the names and there are so much more possible winners. This could be a very open race. Sagan? Thomas? Gilbert? Classics specialists everywhere!

The final climbs on stage 7 aren't much but at least a couple of them are enough to try to get away if there is a strong group or if time gaps are small on GC. It probably won't be selective but there is at least a platform to try to make it so; some of the roads on the closing circuit look to be quite narrow, maybe you or one of the other Dutch posters here could confirm?

Stages 5 and 6 look to be very solid, plenty of opportunity to be decisive, and stage 1 depending on route could be echelon heaven. I agree the TT should be around 15km to suit the parcours, but overall I think this route does a good job of utilizing the two countries.

In an ideal world, I'd have an Eneco Tour with about 15-20km against the clock, a Belgian Vlaamse Ardennen cobbled madness stage (probably wanting to use Mont-Saint-Laurent/Côte de Beau Site since none of the Flandrian races do and the one day races that DO use it don't have it anywhere selective enough), an Ardennes stage, an Amstel Gold-lite type stage in the Maastricht area, a real coastal stage with echelons being an almost certainty, like a less dangerous version of Giro 2010 stage 3, a sprinters' stage with a technical run-in to allow the possibility of late attacks to have a chance, so that the sprint is likely but the full trains are not so likely, and then an a mostly flat stage but with a slightly awkward set-up with a rolling course, maybe somewhere like Nijmegen (Ubbergse Holleweg and Oude Holleweg used on the closing circuit perhaps, but about 12-15km from the finishing line ideally, a bit like Waseberg in Vattenfall). That for me would be an ideally suited route to what the Netherlands and Belgium have to offer, and have something for all types of cyclist except the pure climber.

This route isn't perfect, but it does do a pretty good job of offering everybody something to play for in the race, which makes it completely open in terms of GC and you can't really ask for too much more than that from the race.

 

[De Snelle Duif]

Gilbert and GVA could and should become the duo to beat here. It would be a real shame if Gilbert doesn't win the stage finishing in his birthplace.

 

[SKSemtex]

Sagan is IN.

Lets see how he likes the yellow.

I allways wanted him to ride this one. Unfortuantelyhe did not train a lot after the Tour.

 

[manafana]

I think Thomas, Stybar and Gilbert are the favourites, Dumoulin has too little ITT km's but can still top 5, Sagan could ride well here too and with Cancellara who knows?

dumoulin is more than just a tt machine so don't write him off based on that.

 

[Kwibus]

The final climbs on stage 7 aren't much but at least a couple of them are enough to try to get away if there is a strong group or if time gaps are small on GC. It probably won't be selective but there is at least a platform to try to make it so; some of the roads on the closing circuit look to be quite narrow, maybe you or one of the other Dutch posters here could confirm?

Stages 5 and 6 look to be very solid, plenty of opportunity to be decisive, and stage 1 depending on route could be echelon heaven. I agree the TT should be around 15km to suit the parcours, but overall I think this route does a good job of utilizing the two countries.

In an ideal world, I'd have an Eneco Tour with about 15-20km against the clock, a Belgian Vlaamse Ardennen cobbled madness stage (probably wanting to use Mont-Saint-Laurent/Côte de Beau Site since none of the Flandrian races do and the one day races that DO use it don't have it anywhere selective enough), an Ardennes stage, an Amstel Gold-lite type stage in the Maastricht area, a real coastal stage with echelons being an almost certainty, like a less dangerous version of Giro 2010 stage 3, a sprinters' stage with a technical run-in to allow the possibility of late attacks to have a chance, so that the sprint is likely but the full trains are not so likely, and then an a mostly flat stage but with a slightly awkward set-up with a rolling course, maybe somewhere like Nijmegen (Ubbergse Holleweg and Oude Holleweg used on the closing circuit perhaps, but about 12-15km from the finishing line ideally, a bit like Waseberg in Vattenfall). That for me would be an ideally suited route to what the Netherlands and Belgium have to offer, and have something for all types of cyclist except the pure climber.

This route isn't perfect, but it does do a pretty good job of offering everybody something to play for in the race, which makes it completely open in terms of GC and you can't really ask for too much more than that from the race.

You know more of possible routes in the Netherlands than I do
I live too far away from Limburg so I can't inform you about the final roads, but I doubt it will be wide roads. More likely small ones.

It's not a perfect route, but have we every in the history of cycling seen an perfect route? Sometimes they come close, but it's always possible to do it better.

 

[ILovecycling]

Will Styby double up?
I like G chances.Maybe Dumulain.

 

[search]

This race has no effect on WC RR qualification as it finishes after 15th August, is that correct?

yep, correct

 

[Erythropoietin]

Very open race, will be interesting.

 

[VeloHuman]

BMC has a lot of firepower for this parcours. I like Gilbert's chances with so many Ardennes climbs.