From Monday to Sunday, the 11th edition of the Eneco Tour will take place. In this stage race, the riders are led over Dutch and Belgian roads in seven stages. The peloton has to ride a few tough stages, where the sprinters and the classics riders will have their chance to show something.

Lotto Soudal will start in this stage race with riders like André Greipel, Jürgen Roelandts and Tiesj Benoot. The winner of previous year, Tim Wellens, is also participating. They will be up against riders like Greg Van Avermaet, Philippe Gilbert and Niki Terpstra. Also the sprinters are well represented with among others Moreno Hofland, Giacomo Nizzolo, Sacha Modolo and Arnaud Démare.

Sports director Herman Frison and   Jürgen Roelandts give a short preview.

“The course is a bit the same as the previous editions," Frison said. "The first two or three stages can be sprint stages, although there’s mostly a strong wind in the Netherlands so echelons can be formed. After that there’s a time trial, the GC riders will have to be attentive here. At last, there are three little classics; a little Amstel Gold Race, a little Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a little Tour of Flanders. The GC will be decided in these final stages.

“It will depend on how the Tour de France riders will be recovered. If you get out of the Tour in a good form, you can hold that for a long time. If you come out of the Tour in a less good shape, due to injuries for instance, it’s tougher to be in a good condition. We’re going to try to win a stage, therefore we have André Greipel and Jens  Debusschere. Who will go for the overall victory isn’t certain yet. We have Tim Wellens, Tiesj Benoot or Jürgen Roelandts in our team for the GC. We’ll have to see how the race is evolving, it’s difficult to predict. In every race where we start, we try to do something nice.”

“After the training week in Livigno, it wasn’t certain how the legs would be, everyone reacts differently on a training week," Roelandts said. "In the Tour de Wallonie I didn’t have a super feeling and afterwards I had some stomach ache. So I hope for a better feeling in the Eneco Tour, but I’m confident that it will be the case.

“There are a few stages that I like, especially the fifth and seventh stage. I really love the classics courses and I hope to try something in those stages. Certainly in the final stage, where the start is nearby my place of birth. The first days I will do my job in the sprint train of André Greipel, afterwards it will depend on how the legs will react.”

Selection Lotto Soudal: 

Tiesj Benoot, Stig Broeckx, Jens Debusschere, André Greipel, Greg Henderson, Jürgen Roelandts, Marcel Sieberg and Tim Wellens.