This Thursday, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux will be at the start of the Circuit de Wallonie (1.1), which is ridden on a parcours of 201 kilometer in the Hainaut province.
After the start in the Boulevard Joseph Tirou, the course brings the riders towards Binche via Thuin and La Louvière, before heading towards Les Lacs de l’Eau d’heure and joining the local circuit after 160 kilometer.
The lap of 10.8 kilometer starts with a 600 meter climb (6.4%) and has to be covered three times. The final contains an uphill penultimate kilometer leading towards the finish in the Chaussée de Thuin in Mont-sur-Marchienne.
The selection of the Belgian World Team is directed by Frederik Veuchelen and Bart Wellens and is composed of Baptiste Planckaert, 2nd in 2019, Jan Bakelants, Andrea Pasqualon, Gerben Thijssen, Corné Van Kessel, Kévin Van Melsen and Boy van Poppel.
« This is my first participation in the Circuit de Wallonie, but the roads in this region are familiar to me as this is already my sixth season with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert. I often stay at the Aero 44 Hotel in Charleroi and ride in the direction of the Wanty headquarters in Binche. The parcours suits me really well, it is a race for fast riders who can survive on a selective circuit. Just like my teammates, I want to make our colors shine in the region of so many partners of the team. Our line up contains riders who can make the race hard and also who can finish it off. Gerben Thijssen has shown several times this season that he's very fast and personally, I'm really hungry for a victory. I feel that my form is growing after an altitude training camp with the team in Andorra. »
