Tour de Wallonie 2023

Overview

Founded in 1974 but raced by amateurs until 1996, the Tour de Wallonie is a five-day stage race held in the French-speaking south of Belgium. The Wallonia region also plays host to one-day races like the Grand Prix de Wallonie, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and just like these events, the Ethias Tour de Wallonie is characterised by an abundance of short, sharp climbs and rolling roads.

Nine WorldTour teams, five ProTeams, two Continental teams and one Cyclo-cross pro team will line up at this year’s race, with Alpecin-Deceuninck, Soudal-Quick Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Lidl-Trek all bringing strong teams. Alpecin-Deceuninck took the overall title with Robert Stannard last year, but the 24-year-old Australian will not be back to defend his crown. Instead, the likes of Mauro Schmid (Soudal-Quick Step), Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) and Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) may all vy for the win.

Alongside one lengthy time trial of 32.7km, the race is more akin to four separate one-day races than an actual stage race and - for that reason - tends to favour the Classics specialists like Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), Dylan Teuns (Israel Premier-Tech), Niki Terpstra and Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën) - all winners of this race in the past ten years. Since the race opened its doors to pro riders in 1996, only one has managed to win multiple editions - Van Avermaet in 2011 and 2013.

Van Avermaet will be back for his ninth and final Ethias Tour de Wallone, which starts in Huy on 22 July with no less than five categorised climbs, and ends in Aubel on 26 July after the race’s toughest stage. Before the final test - which contains 3,297m of climbing across 214.8km - the riders will be tasked with three days of significant short, sharp climbs before the individual time trial on stage 4.

Race key

Dates: July 22 - 26, 2023
Country: Belgium
Category: 2.Pro
Editions: 44 (as of 2023)
First winner: Thomas Fleischer (when the race turned professional.
Most recent winner: Robert Stannard

Route

Stage 1: Huy → Hamoir (189.1km)

Stage 2: Saint-Ghislain → Walcourt (179.7km)

Stage 3: Thuin → Mont-Saint-Guibert (187.4km)

Stage 4: Mons → Mons (ITT) (32.7m)

Stage 5: Banneux → Aubel (214.8km)

Contenders

• Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën)
• Loïc Vliegen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty)
• Florian Sénéchal (Soudal-Quick Step)
• Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty)
• Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek)
• Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ)
• Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers)
• Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-Quick Step)
• Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers)
• Mauro Schmid (Soudal-Quick Step)

Teams

• AG2R Citroën
• Alpecin-Deceuninck
• Arkéa Samsic
• Cofidis
• Groupama-FDJ
• Ineos Grenadiers
• Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
• Lidl-Trek
• Soudal-Quick Step
• Bingoal WB (PRT)
• Israel Premier-Tech
• Lotto Dstny
• Team Flanders-Baloise
• Uno-X Pro Cycling
• Materiel-Velo.com (CT)
• Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur
• Baloise-Trek Lions (P-CRO)

Race history

The first edition of the race was held back in 1974 but it wasn’t until 1996 that it opened its doors to the professional peloton. Despite this, several big-name riders won the race while riding as amateurs, many doing so before they went on to have successful pro careers. The former World Champion, Maurizio Fondriest, was one of those riders, as were Eric Vanderaerden, a winner of the Tour de France’s green jersey, and Alfons De Wolf, a five-time Vuelta stage winner.

Since opening the race to professional riders in 1996, the Tour de Wallonie organisers have seen their race upgraded to a 2.HC event in 2005, and then more recently to a 2.Pro event in 2020. The race now sits on the second tier of the UCI’s racing calendar, alongside the likes of the Vuelta a Andalucia, the Tour de la Provence and the Tour of Britain as one of the most prestigious stage races outside of the WorldTour.

While the stage start and finish locations change from edition to edition, the format of each Tour de Wallonie remains very much the same with five rolling stages held in and around Belgium’s Wallonia region. Several of these stages also tend to end on a short sharp climb, opening the door to those riders with a strong uphill kick, or those brave enough to attack from far out.

Major Races

See All

Date	Event	Class
29 Jun - 21 Jul	Tour de France	2.UWT
12 Aug - 18 Aug	Tour de France Femmes	2.WWT
4 May - 26 May	Giro d'Italia	2.UWT
28 Apr - 5 May	Vuelta España Femenina	2.WWT
23 Apr - 28 Apr	Tour de Romandie	2.UWT

Provided by FirstCycling