Tom Boonen won't make his expected return to competition in the Tour de Wallonie as a banal traning crash causes him a lot of pain. Instead, Omega Pharma-Quick Step looks to Zdenek Stybar and Wout Poels to shine in the hilly race.

OPQS has announced the selection that will participate in Tour de Wallonie, a 870.6km stage race from July 26th until July 30th. Tour de Wallonie is a Belgian stage race, with each less than 200km and the longest being Stage 2, at 193.1 kilometers in total distance.

"The course this year is a bit harder than past years," Sport Director Rik van Slycke said. "There is more demanding parts in the Ardennes. But we have a good team going there, with guys coming back for the first time after a period of rest from competition. Guys like Zdenek Stybar, a guy that is known to train well at home. Wout Poels is another rider who be there. He is also using this as an important step toward Tour de Pologne."

Tom Boonen will not participate, and will be replaced by Guillame Van Keirsbulck. Boonen had an accident at home 15 days ago that caused a small fissure on the sacrum just above the coccyx (tailbone). The injury causes him pain when out of the saddle.

“It was really a banal crash at home,” Boonen said “But sometimes stuff like that happens. It’s a small fissure, but it causes me a lot of pain when I try to get out of the saddle and accelerate on climbs. After five days off the bike I started training again. Yesterday I made a long training in the Ardennes, but when I go uphill it’s still painful. So I decided with the medical staff to skip this race and continue to train and let this injury heal 100% to be ready to start at Eneco Tour."
 

26.07–30.07 Tour de Wallonie (BEL) 2.HC
 
Riders

Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)
Andrew Fenn (GBR)
Gianni Meersman (BEL)
Wout Poels (NED)
Pieter Serry (BEL)
Zdenek Stybar (CZE)
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL)