Follow the national championships live

The cycling world has its eyes on the start of the Tour de France but before we get to the battle in France, the national champions’ jerseys will have to be distributed. Three of the most exciting battles will take place in the Netherlands, France and Belgium where the tunics of Jens Debusschere, Steven Tronet and Preben Van Hecke will be up for grabs. You can follow those three races on CyclingQuotes.com.

Last year Niki Terpstra surprised everybody by taking the victory in a bunch sprint in the Netherlands. Due to a knee injury, the defending champion won’t be back to defend his title on the completely flat 212.1km course. On paper, it could be a day for the sprinters but the race will be held in one of the windiest parts of the Netherlands and so the race can turn out to be really dramatic. As usual, LottoNL-Jumbo will have the biggest team at their disposal but they haven’t won the race since 2008. This year they go into the race with an in-form Dylan Groenewegen as their leader and the young sprinter would love to bring the coveted jersey to his maiden Tour de France.

The 13.1km circuit that will be used for the French race will be a lot harder as it includes a tough climb right from the start. From there, the terrain is mainly flat but the race is still tipped to be one for climbers and Ardennes specialists. It is expected to be too hard for riders like Arnaud Demare, Nacer Bouhanni and defending champion Steven Tronet while riders like Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet, Tony Gallopin, Warren Barguil, Alexis Vuillermoz and Arthur Vichot should fancy their chances in a race that could be one of attrition.

Last year the race in Belgium was predominantly but this year it will be different. The riders will cover 15 laps of a 15.4km circuit that includes the Petit Poggio climb (average gradient 6.4%) just 5km from the finish. The rest of the course is pretty hilly too and with a total amount of climbing of 4140m, it is expected to be a day for Ardennes specialists like Greg Van Avermaet, Philippe Gilbert, Tiesj Benoot, Tim Wellens and Jelle Vanendert.

Starting on Saturday at 11.15 CEST you can follow the Dutch championships here. Starting on Sunday at 11.30 CEST you can follow the French championships here. As soon as that race is over (around 15.00 CEST), you can follow the Belgian championships here.