While the cycling world has their full focus on the Tour de France, many riders are gearing up for the Olympics and the second part of the season. The month of July doesn’t offer many opportunities to test the legs but on Wednesday there is a chance for the fast finishers at the GP Cerami which serves as the perfect preparation race for the bigger Tour de Wallonie which starts on Saturday.

Only one cycling event really transcends the sport and gets attention from all over the world. The Tour de France has a special status not only in cycling. As it is the largest annual sport event in the world, it has a unique position on the world of sport.

That makes it hard for anyone to compete with the French grand tour for the attention from cycling fans and so it is no wonder that there are barely any other major races during the month of July. There have been a few one-day races in Spain, the German Sachsen Tour was once held at this time of the year and the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid was also a July event at one point. However, almost everybody have realized that it is impossible to match the Tour and so those races have all disappeared or moved to another slot on the calendar. The Tour of Austria has bucked the trend and always takes place during the Tour and this year the Tour de Pologne was held in July due to the Olympics but otherwise this month is all about the Tour.

However, one race has bucked the trend. GP Cerami was once held in the spring on the Thursday between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. However, that spot wasn’t ideal as it came one day after Scheldeprijs which is the preferred midweek race for the classics stars. Hence, the race had a very anonymous position on the calendar and even local team Etixx-QuickStep often skipped the race.

Last year the organizers made the decision to find a new date for their race and their choice was an unexpected one. In 2015, the race was held in July and that worked out well. Even though it still failed to get much attention, it had a much stronger field than it has had in recent years. At this time, there aren’t many opportunities for riders to keep their legs going and many embraced the chance to do a tough race in Belgium. At the same time, it was a perfect chance for riders to warm up for the bigger Tour de Wallonie which starts on Saturday and has traditionally kicked off the second part of the season for many riders.

This year the GP Cerami will be held on the Wednesday in the final week of the Tour and again the field is stronger than it was when it was held in April. Even though the Tour de Pologne has made the competition a bit harder, the race has attracted three WorldTour teams and six pro continental teams and the field includes several big names who will use the race to gear up for the second part of the season.

The race actually has a rich history which goes back to 1964 when it was first organized in memory of Pino Cerami – the oldest Tour de France stage winner ever – who died that year. Until 1996, it was held around the town of Wamuel but nowadays it takes place in Frameries. In the early years, it was a big event that was won by riders like Eddy Merckx, Joep Zoetemelk, Bernard Hinault and Urs Freuler but in recent years financial woes have made it difficult. The race was cancelled in 1993, 1997 and 2009 and has had several different organizers in recent years. The current organization took over in 2010 and they have revived the race by moving it to a new date.

The GP Cerami is a traditional Belgian one-day race that includes some of the famous hellingen and a circuit in the end. Like most other similar races, it is suited to fast riders and it often comes down to an uphill sprint. That has been the case for the last four editions that have been won by Gaetan Bille (2012), Jonas Vangenechten (2013), Alessandro Petacchi (2014) and Philippe Gilbert (2015) respectively. Last year Gilbert beat Danny van Poppel and Tom Devriendt in the bunch kick but only Devriendt will be back for the 2016 edition.

The course

The 2016 edition of the race will be held on a 199.9km course that will ring the riders from Saint-Ghislain to Frameries. The race can be split into two parts: a hilly opening section and three laps of a finishing cicuit

The first 158.5km sees the riders travel from the start to the finish. Both cities are located south of the Flemish Ardennes and the first part will see the riders head into the hilly terrain after a flat start. Here they will tackle some of the most famous hellingen in Belgium. La Houpe is the first one and starts at the 43.8km mark. It is followed by Les Plachettes just 5.4km later and then the famous Muur van Geraardsbergen comes after 63km of racing. The Dendeeroordberg follows just 5.3km further up the road but then the terrain levels as they head back towards the finish. The Cois d’Erbisouel is the final climb and comes at the 113.9km mark.

The final part of the race consists of three laps of a 13.8km finishing circuit. It’s mainly flat but the final 1.5km are uphill. Most of the time the gradient is less than 4% but there are some steeper sections at the bottom and inside the final 500m.

The favourites

The last four editions of the GP Cerami have been decided in an uphill sprint and that is again the most likely outcome. To split the race, you usually need bad weather and tomorrow the challenge will be the heat more than the wind. A temperature of 31 degrees will make it hard but not in the way that will allow the race to split. There won’t be much wind and it will primarily be a tailwind in the first part and a headwind in the second part and it will be the same on the circuit. Rain may fall late in the afternoon but that will probably only be a welcome relief.

At the same time, most teams go into the race with fast finishers. FDJ want to sprint with Arnaud Demare and Wanty-Groupe Gobert are likely to have similar plans with Kenny Dehaes. Etixx-QuickStep have Tom Boonen, Gianni Meersman and Matteo Trentin so they have lots of fast riders and as they do in every Belgian race, they will definitely ride aggressively. Lotto Soudal will do the same but both teams have good sprint cards and will be comfortable with a sprint. Wallonie and Veranda’s Willems also want to sprint and they have proved that they are not afraid of trying to control things. That means that sprint finish is the most likely outcome but if a big group with representation from the key teams gets clear, a small group has a chance like it happened in Halle-Ingooigem one month ago.

With a sprint finish on the cards, we will put our money on Arnaud Demare. The Frenchman loves these uphill sprints and many will remember how he won in a similar finish at the Eneco Tour a few years ago. He has not had much success in recent years but he has often proved that he still has the speed. He won Milan-Sanremo and a stage in Paris-Nice and in those races he beat some of the fastest riders in the world.

Demare’s travails have stemmed from the fact that his positioning is often terrible. However, a tough uphill finish means that it is more about than legs. Furthermore, the field is not very strong so it will be less crowded. Finally, his lead-out train worked very well at the Giro and he has most of the riders from that race at his side here. Mickael Delage, Marc Sarreau and Daniel Hoelgaard form a solid block of fast riders. Of course Demare hasn’t raced since the Nationals but as he is aiming for the autumn classic, he should be good already now. It all comes down to positioning but if Demare can find an opening in the finale, his speed should allow him to win the race.

His big rival will be Tom Boonen. Those two riders battled it out in similar finishes at last year’s Tour of Belgium, with Boonen winning once and Demare twice. Boonen also likes an uphill sprint like this but he hasn’t been sprinting too well this year. On the other hand, he has the best train in the race and Matteo Trentin will be a great lead-out man for an uphill finish like this. Boonen fell ill before Nationals but he is reported to be back on track. With the best team at his side, he is one of the big favourites.

The Ronde van Limburg was also decided in an uphill sprint and that race was won by Kenny Dehaes who beat Boonen in the tough finale. The Belgian has been back to his best this year and has won numerous races. He prefers an uphill finish like this and has proved that he can beat almost everybody. Wanty have a really strong team of puncheurs with the likes of Gasparotto, Bille, Baugnies and Claeys and some fast rides in Devriendt and Jans. Dehaes beat Boonen in Limburg and he can very well do the same here. Roy Jans will be the back-up plan but due to his health problems he seems to have slipped down in the Wanty hierarchy.

Timothy Dupont has had a breakthrough season and is knocking on the door to the WorldTour. He has been up there in almost every sprint at this level and as a strong rider he likes an uphill finale. He has to share the responsibility with Aidis Kruopis but for this kind of finale, Dupont must be the best card.

Like Dupont, Baptiste Planckaert is having a breakthrough season. The Belgian has proved that he is much more than a sprinter and has been up there in hard races too. At the same time, he has been competitive in almost every sprint he has done and an uphill finish is ideal for him. The month of June wasn’t great for him but if he has the legs he had at the Tour of Belgium, he will be one of the big favourites.

Boonen has just come back from illness and if he is not ready to sprint, Etixx-QuickStep may give the chance to Matteo Trentin. The Italian has really proved his class during the last year, winning a stage in the Giro and Paris-Tours. He is a strong classics rider with a fast sprint and so the finale suits him well. If he gets the nod, he will have the best train.

Lotto Soudal have two options for a sprint. One year ago Kris Boeckmans would have been one of the big favourites but he is still not at his best level. However, he is constantly getting better so it is just a matter of time before he takes his first win. In any case, the finale suits him really well. If he is not at 100%, Tosh van der Sande will be the man. He is good in an uphill finish but may not be fast enough to win.

Roompot have Raymond Kreder who sprinted very well at the start of the year. However, he has not been at the same level in recent months and the uphill finish is not ideal for him. As opposed to this, Rudy Barbier likes an uphill sprint but he may not be fast enough to win.

For more sprinters, keep an eye on Rudy Barbier, Bert Van Lerberghe, Yauheni Hutarovich, Boris Vallee, Aidis Kruopis, Justin Jules, Jason Lowndes, Gerald Ciolek, Mads Pedersen, Alexander Kamp, Barry Markus, Anthony Giacoppo, Gerry Druyts, Fredeique Robert, Christopher Latham, Fabio Chinello and Antonio Parinello but none of them are fast enough to win.

If a small group makes it to the finish, keep an eye on strong and fast riders like Gianni Meersman, Trentin, van der Sande, Sean De Bie, Enrico Gasparotto, Gaetaen Bille, Dimitri Claeys, Mads Pedersen, Pieter Vanspeybrouck, Antonio Parrinello, Maxime Vantomme, Dries De Bondt and Wout Van Aert

***** Arnaud Demare

**** Tom Boonen, Kenny Dehaes

*** Timothy Dupont, Baptiste Planckaert, Matteo Trentin

** Kris Boeckmans, Tosh van der Sande, Raymond Kreder, Roy Jans, Rudy Barbier

* Gianni Meersman, Wout Van Aert, Enrico Gasparotto, Mads Pedersen, Gaetan Bille, Pieter Vanspeybrouck, Dries De Bondt, Bert Van Lerberghe, Aidis Kruopis