"This is the most beautiful Tour of Belgium ever, because every stage is something very different."

Those were the words of Astana's Laurens De Vreese after the prologue of the Baloise Belgium Tour. De Vreese finished the short, cobblestone prologue :38 behind winner and race leader Mathias Brändle of Switzerland ahead of four days of very different racing to come.

Teammate Andrea Guardini is a strong favorite for the expected mass sprint on stage one, and Borut Božič will work with Ruslan Tleubayev and De Vreese to lead the front of the peloton on the hilly, cobblestone stage two.

In the weekend the race moves east, away from Flanders and into Wallonie, with many of the same hills and roads used in the Spring Ardennes Classic races Fleche-Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.