The spring and autumn are dominated by the classics while the middle of the season is loaded with big stage races. Those two different kinds of races come together in the Dutch/Belgian stage race Eneco Tour which combine a number of stages in well-known classics terrain with a couple of sprint stages and a time trial to form a race for the one-day and time trial specialists. Having initially been criticized for its less exciting and sprint-heavy courses, the race has now found its format and is one of the major targets for some of the riders that usually dominate the spring.

Racing in Belgium is loaded with history but the emphasis has always been placed on one-day races and the country's many esteemed classics. Held for the first time in 1908, the Tour of Belgium has struggled to gain the popularity that national tours have had in the southern part of Europe and stage racing has mostly been neglected in one of cycling's most important areas.

When the ProTour was introduced in 2005, the Tour of the Netherlands which has a long history, was deemed too easy to make it onto the sport's finest calendar and so the organizers sought help from the Tour of Belgium and the Tour of Luxembourg in an attempt to create a Tour of Benelux that could be included in the newly-founded race series. The cooperation with the Luxembourgish organizers never materialized but the Belgians and Dutchmen found together in a collaboration that allowed the Dutch tour to develop into a two-country race that made it onto the ProTour calendar. Suddenly, the Belgians not only had classics but also a high-level stage race.

During its first years, the race had difficulty finding its right format and many criticized the courses for being too easy and the event for having too many stages for the sprinters. Often the race was loaded with bunch sprints and only a single hilly stage and the crucial time trial decided the GC. The Dutch and Belgian geographies mean that the race will always have numerous opportunities for the fast finishers but the organizers have since toughened up the race by including more stages in the hard classics terrain and the race has now found its right mix between sprint stages and more difficult days for the one-day specialists.

What makes the race exciting is that it takes the riders back onto the roads that have been the scene of some dramatic racing in the spring season but that are rarely used in the second part of the season. Usually the event has a stage that sends the riders up some of the Flemish hellingen that characterize the Tour of Flanders, a stage held in the hilly Limburg province that hosts the Amstel Gold Race and a stage in the Wallonian Ardennes that are the scene of the Fleche Wallonne and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Those classics stages are combined with a number of days for the sprinters and a time trial to form a race for the versatile riders and classics and time trial specialists. As usual, the weather plays a crucial role when races take place in this part of the world and there is always the preeminent danger of crosswinds that can blow the race to pieces.

Despite the more difficult stages, the terrain is not hard enough to produce big time gaps and the most decisive stage is always the rather short time trial. No one will win the Eneco Tour without having the ability to race against the clock and the winners' list is a testament to that. The inaugural edition was taken by Bobby Julich and since then Stefan Schumacher, Jose Ivan Gutierrez (twice), Edvald Boasson Hagen (twice), Tony Martin and Lars Boom have all won the event. The overall winner is a versatile rider that can stay in contention on the hills, manage the battle for position and the crosswinds, potentially pick up a couple of bonus seconds in some sprints and finish it off with a high-level time trial.

Due to its scheduling close to the Vuelta, one might expect the race to be a perfect preparation for the Spanish grand tour but the race has never developed into such a warm-up race. The kind of racing on offer is not very similar to the one found in the mountainous Spanish race and most riders prefer to improve their condition in the hilly Vuelta a Burgos and Tour de l'Ain rather than on the flat roads in Belgium and the Netherlands. For the sprinters, it is of course different and many of the fast finishers use the race to get their fast legs going ahead of the three-week race in Spain. On the other hand, the Vuelta has had very few opportunities for the sprinters in the two most recent editions and so many of the fast riders avoid the Spanish grand tour.

Instead, the Eneco Tour has evolved into a major target in its own right. For the time trial specialists, it represents a rare chance to pick up some WorldTour points without having to overcome some enormous mountains while the classics riders relish the chance to race in their preferred terrain at a time when those opportunities are limited. With the growing importance of value points, more and more teams see the Eneco Tour as a great opportunity to increase their tally in a race that is not overly difficult.

Last year, the organizers included the first ever team time trial in the event. Orica-GreenEdge took the win and when that team's Svein Tuft defeated Taylor Phinney and Lars Boom in the time trial on the penultimate day, all was set for a Canadian win in the WorldTour race. However, those dreams all came to nothing on the final stage which included two late passages of the famous Muur van Geraardsbergen. Tuft fell off the pace when Alessandro Ballan and Lars Boom escaped in the finale and while the Italian was allowed to take the stage win, the time gains were enough for Boom to take the overall win ahead of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammates Sylvain Chavanel and Niki Terpstra. Those three riders will all be back this year as they spearhead their teams in their home race.

The course

Last year's team time trial won't be repeated this year and instead the 7-day race is back to its traditional format. The classics terrain of the Tour of Flanders, the Brabantse Pijl, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Amstel Gold Race will all be visited while three of the stages have completely flat courses for the sprinters. However, the organizers have designed a course that appears to be extremely exciting on paper and should be the toughest ever. The race finishes with three very difficult stages that are set to produce some bigger-than-usual time gaps. The usually flat time trial has been replaced by a hilly one in the Amstel Gold Race terrain of the Limburg province while the weekend offers summit finishes on the two most iconic climbs in Belgium: Liege-Bastogne-Liege's Cote de La Redoute on Saturday and the Muur van Geraardsbergen (formerly part of the Tour of Flanders course) on Sunday.

The race kicks off on Monday in Belgium and the coastal town of Koksijde that is famously known for its central role in the Three Days of De Panne in the spring. The riders first cover a short circuit around the start city before they leave the coast to start the journey towards the finishing city of Ardooie. The Rodeberg (1,7km, 5%, known from Gent-Wevelgem) is located after 75,6km of the 175,3km but otherwise the course is completely flat. With 40,8km to go, the riders hit the finishing circuit and they cross the line for the first time when 30,8km still remain. From there, they cover the 15,4km finishing circuit twice before the stage finishes with what is very likely to be a big bunch sprint in Ardooie. The sprinters will have to negotiate a sharp left-hand turn just before the flamme rouge but from then on, the roads are completely straight and we should see a very fast finish to the opening stage of the race.

The GC could already come slightly into play on the second day when the riders head 176,9km from yesterday's finish in Ardooie to the Bruxelles suburb of Vorst. From the start, the riders pass Kortrijk and Harelbeke to head in to the Flemish heartland of cycling. When the riders reach Ronse, they will tackle some of the famous hellingen that are known from the Tour of Flanders and some of the other Flemish spring classics. The Cote de Trieu (1,1km, 8%) is first up after 45,8km racing and is followed by the Kruisberg (1km, 6%, partly cobbled) 7,5km further up the road. From there the riders head up the lesser-known Mont Saint Laurent (1,3km, 6,5%, partly cobbled) and Mont (1,7km,4,7%) before the roads once again flatten out as the riders leave the Flemish Ardennes to head towards Bruxelles. As they get closer to the Belgian capital, the terrain once again gets more difficult as the riders face some of the climbs that are known from the hilly Brabantse Pijl which is held in the area just south of Bruxelles. With 19,1km to go, the riders reach the top of the Alsemberg (1,2km, 4%) and with 13,9km still to race, they crest the summit of the Bruine Put (0,8km, 8,2%). From there it's a fast downhill and flat run towards the finish line in Vorst but the race has a difficult sting in the tail. The final 1,5km follow a mostly straight road but the final 1000m are all uphill with an average gradient of 5%. We should see a real power sprint at the end and we could see the first small time gaps open up in this difficult finish

The race heads to the Netherlands for the third day of racing which should be another one for the sprinters. The stage starts in Oosterhout in the central part of the country to head in a western direction on a 187,3km route that finishes in the coastal city of Brouwersdam in the Zeeland province. There's not a single climb on the roads in one of the flattest parts of Europe but that doesn't mean that the stage won't be a dramatic one. Having reached the coast, the riders first do a small circuit near the seafront before they hit the finishing circuits with 70km to go. They cross the finish line for the first time 4,6km further up the road to start the first of two laps on the 32,7km finishing circuit. Those final circuits all take place near the coast where the riders will travel along roads in all different directions and the wind could really come into play in this part of the country - just ask Cadel Evans who lost the maglia rosa in the area in the 2010 Giro d'Italia. The wind may split up the field but it should still finish in some kind of sprint on the very exposed finishing straight which is located on a tongue in the North Sea. The final kilometre follows a slightly bending road on that tongue and it will be very important to be well-placed to avoid getting into the wind too early in the expected sprint.

The sprinters get their final chance in Thursday's fourth stage which starts in the Belgian city of Essen just south of the border. The riders first complete a small loop in the area south of the start city before they cross the border and head towards the finish in the Dutch city of Vlijmen. The 169,6km is once again completely flat and perfectly suited to another bunch sprint for the many fast finishers that will line up at the start line. With 56,6km to go, the riders cross the finish line for the first time and from there they will tackle the 28,3km finishing circuit twice. To win the stage, the riders will have to overcome a very technical finish in Vlijmen. With 1,5km to go, they will turn left in a roundabout and just before the flamme rouge, they will take a 90-degree right-hand turn. That is followed by a sharp 100-degree left-hand turn 500m from the line and a 100-degree right-hand turn which leads onto the 400m finishing straight. Positioning and acceleration will be key in this very tricky finish to the final sprint stage of the race.

Friday is the day of the crucial time trial which as usual is a rather short affair at just 13,2km. However, the organizers have deviated from their usual script by designing a course that is not completely flat. Instead, they have decided to let this year's stage in the hilly Limburg province - known from the Amstel Gold Race - coincide with the race against the clock and have constructed a course with very few metres of flat roads. From the start in Sittard-Geelen, the roads ascend slightly until the riders hit the bottom of the Windraak climb (0,7km, 4,5%) after 2,8km. At the top, the riders face a short stretch of almost flat roads before a short descent leads to the bottom of the Beukenberg (0,6km, 4,5). The intermediate time will be taken on the top and from there just 5,6km remain. Those are all downhill on a gradual descent. While climbing legs will certainly come into play, the course is also rather technical in the first part where multiple turns will break the rhythm and force the riders to get back up to speed. From the top of the final climb, the roads are almost completely straight and the riders should reach some high speeds on the downhill run towards the finish line.

The riders head into the Ardennes for the penultimate stage on Saturday which will see the riders tackle the famous Cote de la Redoute which is known from the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. At 150km, the stage is a short one but what it lacks in length is made up for by the difficult nature of the course. From the start in the Belgian city of Riemst just South of Maastricht and the border, the riders make their way around a short circuit that sends them up the Muizenberg (0,65km, 6,6%) and Cote de Halembaye (1,1km, 6,6%) climbs. From there, they head south into the Ardennes heartland and the roads gradually get more hilly as the riders face a long uncategorized climb. The Cote de Foret (3,1km, 5,5%) and the Cote de Banneux (3,5km, 5,6%) are obstacles as the riders head towards the finishing circuit and the city of Aywaille that hosts the finish. With 61km to go, the riders get onto the circuit and head up the famous Redoute (1,65km, 9,5%) (albeit from a different direction than in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege) and cross the finish line at the top for the first time with 59,4km to go. From there, they will cover 2 laps of the 29,7km finishing circuit which has no flat roads at all. The descent from La Redoute is followed by the uncategorized Rue de Baron (1,8km, 3,8%), a subsequent descent, the Cote de Chambralles (1,55km, 9,5%), another descent and the Cote de Niaster (1,8km, 7,7%). A downhill section leads to the bottom of La Redoute. With a summit finish on the most famous climb of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, this is by far the most difficult stage that has ever been ridden in the Eneco Tour and we should see bigger time gaps than usual on this very hard course.

Despite the difficult nature of the penultimate stage, nothing will be decided until the final day which sends the riders into the Flemish Ardennes for a very difficult day in the saddle. When it was announced that the Muur van Geraardsbergen would no longer be part of the Tour of Flanders course, the organizers of the Eneco Tour were quick to make an agreement with the city of Geraardsbergen which ensures that the stage race will finish with a tough circuit around that city until 2014. That stage debuted last year and gave way for some aggressive racing that allowed Ballan to beat Boom in the finish and produced a major shake-up of the GC. The riders will start in Tienen and head west on almost completely flat roads towards the Flemish Ardennes and its many hellingen known from the Tour of Flanders. The first of those is the Muur itself (1,1km, 8,7%) and the finish line is located on the top. From there, the riders complete one lap on a big 64,5km circuit that contains the famous Bosberg (1,0km, 5,8%, partly cobbled) in the early part. From there flat roads lead to the difficult final part which sends the riders up the uncategorized Hurdumont (0,55km, 8%), the La Houppe (1,9km, 2,8%), the Tenbosse (0,4km, 6,9%), the Eikenmolen (0,6km, 5,9%) and the Denderoordberg (0,7km, 8%, cobbled) before another passage of the finish line on the top of the Muur. From there, the riders will head onto a shorter 25,6km circuit that has very few metres of flat roads. First up is another passage of the Bosberg with 21,3km to go and then it's onto the Onkerzelestraat (1,5km, 3%) with 12,7km to go. Those two climbs precede the difficult finale with the Denderoordberg starting at the 6,1km mark to go mark and a fast downhill run towards the bottom of the Muur and the final climb up to the finish. The finale is also extremely technical with numerous turns inside the final 3km and that will all make for a very exciting end to what should be toughest ever edition of the Eneco Tour.

The weather

As usual, the weather plays a crucial role when it comes to racing in the Netherlands and Belgium and especially the weather forecast for Wednesday's stage in the Zeeland region will be carefully studied. The race should get off to a reasonable start on Monday with dry, cloudy weather, 20-degree temperatures and a light wind from a western direction that should not offer too many problems as the riders will have a tailwind or headwind on most of the finishing circuit. Tuesday's stage to Bruxelles should offer similar conditions but rain could make the racing a little bit tougher.

Some riders will be happy to know that there won't be much wind on Wednesday and so we may not get to see any crosswinds action on that stage. The day should be partly sunny with 20-degree temperatures and no rain. It should be the same for Thursday's stage but the riders could face some rain on their fourth day of racing.

It should get a little bit hotter and a little bit more windy for Friday's and Saturday's crucial stages as 25-degree temperatures are expected. The conditions will be cloudy and the riders won't see much from the sun during this week's race. The weather conditions should get a little but worse for Sunday's final stage where slightly lower temperatures, rain and more wind could make for a very thrilling race in the Flemish Ardennes.

The favourites

Usually, the task of selecting the favourites for the Eneco Tour mostly consists of picking out the strongest time triallists and delete those of them that are unable to handle the harder stages. With a tougher course, this year's race could, however, develop into a more unpredictable one and while the time trial will still be the single most crucial stage, any rider with overall ambitions needs to be a much more versatile rider than in previous years. As usual, the race has attracted a host of time triallists that have all set their sights on overall honours but many of those will struggle with the uphill finish on La Redoute.

Among those many time triallists, one is head and shoulders above the rest. Bradley Wiggins may have only raced two individual time trials since last year's Olympics but his recent performance in the Tour de Pologne showed that the Brit certainly hasn't forgotten how to race against the clock. By putting almost a minute into no less a figure than Fabian Cancellara and also distancing last year's worlds silver medallist Taylor Phinney by even more, Wiggins showed such excessive dominance that it is hard to see anyone beat him in this week's race against the clock. Compared to many of the other time trial specialists, the hilly course for the time trial will be a clear advantage for Wiggins who must have spent endless of hours on his time trial bike as he prepares for his major goal at the world championships.

As the time trial is the most important stage, Wiggins stands out as the big race favourite. He returned to competitive action in the Tour de Pologne and while he was not in the GC mix, he used the race to build some form for his later objectives. At the moment, his condition may not be sufficient to battle it out with the best in the high mountains but by producing his splendid time trial performance and working solidly for Sergio Henao, he showed that he is not too far away from his best. His fitness level should be sufficient to handle the terrain in the Eneco Tour which is significantly easier than the one found in the Italian Dolomites during the Polish race. Finally, Wiggins has always liked to set himself new objectives and win new races and we would expect him to be extremely motivated to show that he is back in the mix by claiming a win in a big race that is still missing on his palmares.

What speaks against a Wiggins win is that the nature of the race doesn't suit him really well. He doesn't like the short, explosive climbs and could very well lose time to some of the punchier guys on La Redoute and the Muur. At the same time, he has a distaste for the fierce battle for position and doesn't like to rub shoulders when the fighting gets tough in the tricky, technical and often crash-marred finales. Wiggins would certainly have preferred an early selection that would take away the stress and some longer, more gradual climbs. However, his superiority in the time trial is such that he can allow himself to lose a few seconds in both of the two difficult stages and still go on to win the race overall and so he remains our favourite to win the race.

Sylvain Chavanel finished 2nd overall behind Lars Boom last year and would like to go one better this time in a race that is a home event for his team. As it is the case for Wiggins, Chavanel's main asset is his time trialling ability. For many years, he was a solid rider against the clock but he was unable to compete with the very best. That all changed when he finally solved his back problems prior to last season and since then he has taken a step into the world elite in the individual discipline. Short stage races with a crucial time trial suit him well and it is no wonder that he has now taken back-to-back wins in the Three Days of De Panne.

Undoubtedly, the Frenchman would have preferred last year's easier course and he could lose some time to the best on the La Redoute stage. Being one of the stand-out performers in the Flemish classics, the rest of the race should suit him well and he should not be too disadvantaged by the hilly time trial course even if he may have preferred a more traditional route. As usual, he will be backed by a team that is incredibly strong in this kind of racing and should the opportunity for some crosswinds action occur, the Belgian team is the one most likely to benefit. The main question is of course his form level but he appeared to finish the Tour much fresher than in previous seasons. That was underlined by his solid showing in the Clasica San Sebastian and if he has maintained that condition, he should be able to mix it up with the very best.

Belkin may have defending champion Lars Boom in their ranks but their most dangerous GC rider could very well be young Wilco Kelderman. Having already showed his potential in the youth ranks, he broke through on the professional scene with a splendid performance in last year's Dauphiné time trial. Since then he has not been able to produce similar performances and his progression appeared to have slightly stalled.

However, he seems to have come out of his summer training in splendid condition. He raced his first grand tour in Italy in May and as it is often seen, that first three-week race appears to have increased his top level. He returned to competition in the recent Tour of Denmark where he mixed it up with the best in the sprints in the tougher stages before going on to take a fantastic win in the crucial time trial, thus setting himself up for his first big stage race win.

None of the favourites could be more pleased with the more selective course than Kelderman. While he may have come up short against the best in a flat power time trial, he will find the hilly nature of this year's race against the clock to his liking. At the same time, he is one of the best climbers in the race and should be able to put some time into the specialists in the two queen stages. Another main asset is his explosiveness that should allow him to mix it up in the sprints in the two difficult weekend stages and with bonus seconds on offer, this could see him gain that little bit extra time that will allow him to take the overall win.

Kelderman may be Belkin's best option this year but it would be a mistake to rule out another Lars Boom victory. The defending champion has made a repeat win in his home race a major target and he will be extremely motivated to take back-to-back victories. Short stage races with a crucial time trial suit him perfectly and it is no wonder that he added the Ster ZLM Toer to last year's Eneco win earlier this season. Last year he proved that he knows how to handle the Geraardsbergen stage and while he may have preferred a flatter time trial, he should be able to handle the climbs on that stage as well. He has prepared the race ever since he finished the Tour and he appeared to come of the three-week race in a solid condition. Finally, he is also a rather fast rider who has the ability to potentially pick up bonus seconds along the way.

However, Boom has two clear disadvantages. First of all, his recent time trial performances haven't been on par with his achievements earlier in his career. For some reason, he hasn't been able to find back to the level that allowed him to take wins in the Paris-Nice and Tour of Qatar prologues earlier in his career. He only managed to take 4th in the Dutch time trial championships, 11th in the Tour of Belgium time trial and a modest 34th in the flat Tour de France time trial. Furthermore, he won't be happy to see the inclusion of the La Redoute finish which should be a little bit too tough for the Dutchman's liking. If he loses time in both the time trial and the Ardennes, it will be difficult to repeat last year's win.

World champion Philippe Gilbert finished 2nd in the race during his magnificent 2011 season and he will probably never get a better chance of winning the race than this year. The hilly course is tailor-made to his characteristics and if he should miss out on the GC, the three uphill finishes provide him with a number of opportunities to finally take his first win in the rainbow jersey.

Gilbert is no bad time triallist - especially on shorter courses - and due to the hilly nature of the race against the clock, he should be able to limit his losses. Of course he will lose some time to the best but he has plenty of terrain where he can try to make up some of that time. With three uphill finishes, he has a chance to pick up what could be as much as 30 bonus seconds and that will go a long way to compensate for his time loss in a short 13,2km time trial.

Gilbert's main problem is of course that he is not the rider he once was. Until now, he hasn't found back the legs from 2011 and the 2012 world championships and he didn't set the world on fire when he got the chance to race for himself in the final part of the Tour de France. He was also far off the mark in the Clasica San Sebastian which was his most recent race and which he won in 2011. Last year he came out of the Tour in good condition and it was the strains of the French grand tour that allowed him to finally reach his best level. If that is the case again this year, Gilbert could finally enjoy some success in his rainbow jersey.

Argos-Shimano is not known as a team for the GC in stage races but the Dutchmen have a genuine winner candidate in their home race. Young Tom Dumoulin is perfectly suited to this course on which he will benefit from his excellent time trialling abilities and his solid climbing legs.

His main asset is his strength in the race against the clock. Having always been known as a strong time triallist, he seems to have upped his level this season. He finished 2nd behind Tony Martin in the Tour of Belgium time trial and 9th in the first Tour de France time trial which proves that he now belongs to the world elite. The hilly course in his home country suits him well and he should benefit from the tough courses in the Ardennes where he should be more resistant than most of his competitors.

The main question is his current condition. He has just finished his first grand tour and hasn't raced since the big finish on the Champs-Elysees. He appeared to still be fresh at the end by getting into two decisive breakaways in the final week and this indicates that he should still be going strong. However, much can have happened during the three weeks since the finish of the Tour, and it will be interesting to see if the Dutchman has the level that could finally allow him to stand out as a genuine stage race contender.

Moreno Moser may have won the Strade Bianche but apart from that success, the Italian hasn't showed much all season. He was far from his best in the Ardennes classics and was a shadow of his former self during the first part of the Tour de France. As it was the case for Kelderman, the Italian may, however, have benefitted from his first ever grand tour as he appeared to be very strong at the end of the race. He finished 3rd on the Alpe d'Huez stage and went on to make it into the top 10 in the Clasica San Sebastian on the back of a very solid showing.

If he has maintained that condition, he should be in the mix in the Eneco Tour. He is a good time triallist who excels on hilly courses and finished 3rd behind Sagan and Cancellara in last year's very difficult Tour de Suisse prologue. This week's time trial suits him well and he should also benefit from the hillier road stages. As a fast rider with a good punch, he should even be one of the favourites to win the two most difficult stages and with bonus seconds on offer, he could take back some of the time, he may lose to a rider like Wiggins in the time trial. He won the Tour de Pologne in his debut season. Will he also take a big world tour win in second professional season?

Lieuwe Westra has all the characteristics to shine in his home race. He is one of the best time triallists in the world and as he showed in the Col d'Eze time trial of last year's Paris-Nice, a hilly course doesn't bother him at all. Having won the stage to Mende in that same French stage race, he has all the characteristics to handle the tougher stages and he is even a rather fast rider who may pick up some bonus seconds along the way.

Had it not been for uncertainty over his health, Westra would have been one of our main favourites to win the race. However, the Dutchman has been sick recently and was forced to abandon the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysees! He also had to cancel his participation in the Tour of Denmark where he had hoped to defend last year's win.

His twitter account suggests that he is now feeling better and has trained well for the race and so we will still mark him out as an outsider. He has had a tough year so far with a crash in the Dauphiné that derailed his plans for the Tour de France and hasn't reached the same heights as last year. The Eneco Tour could be the race that finally allows him to turn around his fortunes if he has overcome his many health issues.

Finally, we would like to point out that the race has its usual formidable line-up of sprinters. Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel return to competition after the Tour and the two Germans will have to go up against a very long list of sprinters that include Theo Bos, Klaas Lodewyck, Daniel Oss, Taylor Phinney, Danilo Wyss, Gert Steegmans, Alessandro Petacchi, Daniele Bennati, Jonathan Canywell, Chris Sutton, Ben Swift, Boy Van Poppel, Danny Van Poppel, Giacomo Nizzolo, Borut Bozic, Jacopo Guarnieri, Alexander Porsev, Alexey Tsatevich, Tyler Farrar, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze, Davide Vigano, Aidis Kruopis, Guillaume Boivin, Jose Joaquin Rojas, Francisco Ventoso, Yauheni Hutarovich, Davide Appollonio, Manuel Belletti, Juan Jose Lobato, Arnaud Demare, Michael Van Staeyen, Danilo Napolitano and Stefan Van Dijk in the high-speed bunch kicks in the first part of the race.

***** Bradley Wiggins

**** Sylvain Chavanel, Wilco Kelderman

*** Lars Boom, Philippe Gilbert, Tom Dumoulin, Moreno Moser, Lieuwe Westra

** Sebastian Langeveld, Maxime Monfort, Bob Jungels, Stijn Devolder, Niki Terpstra, Pieter Weening, Manuele Boaro, Simon Spilak

* Jan Bakelants, Zdenek Stybar, Taylor Phinney, Daryl Impey, Daniel Oss, Maciej Paterski, Jurgen Roelandts, Alex Dowsett