This Wednesday, the riders of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert will participate at the Eurometropole tour (1.Pro, 29/09), from which the finish is situated a stone’s throw from the team’s headquarters. This former stage race known as Circuit Franco-Belge is ridden in its current form between La Louvière and Tournai since 2017 and celebrates its 80th edition this year.
The riders under the direction of Hilaire Van der Schueren and Steven De Neef will line up in La Louvière around 13h before leaving towards a hilly section around Ronse and concluding on a local circuit in Tournai containing the Mont-Saint-Aubert. The riders have to accomplish five laps of 14.7 kilometer with this Col de la Croix-Jubaru (1.5km at 5%). The parcours between the city of the wolves and the city of five spires totals to 177.6 kilometer, and the finish will be judged in the Boulevard des Déportés, 10 kilometer after the final difficulty.
At home, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert will line up with Danny van Poppel, who finished on the podium of half of the races in which he participates the last six weeks. His last podium was his 2nd place in Lichtervelde behind his teammate Taco van der Hoorn, who will also participate this Wednesday. Another fast asset is Andrea Pasqualon who finished 3rd in Paris-Chauny after an excellent performance (4th) in Eschborn-Frankfurt. Next to Belgian rider Loïc Vliegen and Dutch rider Boy Van Poppel, Baptiste Planckaert is one of the participants. He finished twice in the top 10 at this finish. Finally, also Aimé De Gendt, author of two podium spots last month, is part of the line up.
« It's clear that with this line up, we can aim for a great result this Wednesday. On paper, the parcours suits me, but this morning I had the opportunity to do the recon of the important parts on the bike. There are enough difficulties to make the race hard, and maybe wind and rain will add some spices to the event. We're very motivated to honor our partners at home! »
