Who are….Wanty-Groupe Gobert?

Of the four wildcard entries into the 2017 Tour de France, only one comes from outside of France.  The Wanty-Groupe Gobert team is based in Belgium, and makes its Grand Tour debut in the 104th edition of the Tour de France.

Vital Stats

• Wanty-Groupe Gobert was founded in 2008 as the Continental level team Willems Verandas.  The team took on its current name in 2014.

 

• The team currently rides at Pro Continental level, and were the only Pro Continental team to win a WorldTour one day race in 2016, with Enrico Gasparotto’s victory in the Amstel Gold Race.

 

• Wanty-Groupe Gobert have never ridden a Grand Tour, and each of the 9 selected riders is making his Tour debut.

 

• The Tour team features: Frederik Backaert, Thomas Degand, Guillaume Martin, Marco Minnaard, Yoann Offredo, Andrea Pasqualon, Dion Smith, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Pieter Vanspeybrouck.

Stage 2 Spoils

With todays stage finishing in Belgium, it seems fitting that a Belgian team ended the day as leaders of the team classification.  Yoann Offredo was awarded the Most Combative Rider after his excellent ride in the two-man breakaway, which he rode with Cannondale-Drapac’s Taylor Phinney.  “I studied the race book and immediately saw that an escape would leave early.  When the break was formed, I wondered why I was in front.  It was raining the whole day, but the feeling was good…some talked about a breakaway for publicity but that was not my main goal.  In my mind there was something else.  The stage victory.”  Unfortunately for Offredo, the peloton caught the break with 1k to go.

Speaking of Offredo’s ride, directeur sportif Hilaire Van der Schueren said “I am more than satisfied.  This is the scenario we dreamed of! I saw the sponsors in tears…such days are not common”.

Only two days in to the 2017 Tour and Wanty-Groupe Gobert already have much to be proud of!

 

Preview – Eneco Tour, Final Stage

Sunday’s final stage has an interesting profile.  At a swift glance, it appears to be incredibly flat, but on closer inspection, from 90km to the finish at kilometre 198, the riders will either be ascending or descending, with no real flat in sight.

The race takes in three ascents of the infamous Muur, a cobbled climb of just over 1km at a gradient of 8.7%.  After three full ascents, the finishing line is situated half way up what would have been a fourth climb of the Muur.  Riders with experience in the Spring Classics will be well aware of what lies ahead.  Current race leader Rohan Dennis may not be as well versed.  Whether this affects his grip on that white jersey remains to be seen.

Freewheeling prediction – The final day of racing is a difficult one to predict, due to the many narrative threads running throughout the race.  The riders at the sharp end of the GC are not separated by huge gaps, so someone like Tony Martin, 24 seconds back, could decide to throw caution to the wind on the last day and try a courageous attack.  Any attack here would be courageous given the terrain – those cobbles on the Muur are no small matter!  The technical nature of some of the climbing could give pause for thought to those riders with World Championship hopes, as no one wants even the most insignificant of injuries to interfere with preparations for Qatar.

On Stage 6, Sagan seemed less concerned with claiming the leader’s jersey, perhaps instead targeting stage wins.  Tony Martin of Etixx-Quickstep attempted an attack as he chased down 24 seconds.  BMC were keen to protect Dennis, but will his lack of Classics experience impact upon his tactics on the final day?  And where have Tom Dumoulin and Greg Van Avermaet been?  All these questions and narratives make for one interesting day of racing, that’s for sure!  Hedging our bets?  Maybe.  But the unpredictability is what makes this final day so special and exciting!

Preview – Eneco Tour Stage 4

Stage 4 is the longest in this year’s 12^th edition of the Eneco Tour, with 202km of racing between Aalter and Saint-Pieters-Leeuw.  Billed as a sprinters stage, the appearance of three uphill sections within the circuit, the last of which tops out within the final 13km – may decide otherwise.  If the climbs aren’t enough to contend with – enter the Belgian cobbles!

The pavé sections here are not too long, although could be tricky depending on the weather conditions.  The riders will also have to contend with three climbs included within the circuit section, which could see the bunch split.  To make things interesting, the Golden Kilometre begins just after the final climb of Bruine Put – a climb of almost 1km at 8.2%, which, given the time gaps at the top of the GC, could make for a very entertaining few metres as BMC seek to hold off Sagan and keep Dennis in the leader’s jersey.

With its technical sections, uphills and sprint-type finish, this should be another perfect stage for Sagan.  Only 3 seconds behind the race leader, day 4 could be the day for the Slovak to head GC for the first time in the race.

Freewheeling prediction – Fresh from our prediction success in Stage 3 thanks to Sagan and Boudhanni, Freewheeling is predicting that Sagan will take over the leader’s jersey by the end of Stage 4.  There could be another stage win for the Tinkoff rider given the shape of the parcours, although Olympic champion Greg Van Avaermaet is also in good shape to finish the stage at the sharp end.

Eneco Tour – Stage 3 Review

Stage 3 of the Eneco Tour looked to be in the hands of a five man breakaway until the last 100m when the break wavered, lost momentum, and relinquished their opportunity to the chasing peloton.  Martin Elmiger of IAMCycling started the day 23 seconds behind race leader Rohan Dennis, and by getting into the break almost as soon as the race began, spent much of the afternoon as the virtual race leader on the road.  Elmiger was accompanied by Brit Mark McNally of Wanty-Groupe Gobert, Jesper Asselman of Roompot Oranje, Yukiya Arashiro of Lampre-Merida and Stijn Steels of Topsport Vlaanderen.  At one point, the leaders were ahead by over 6 minutes.

As the leaders passed under the flamme rouge, the peloton still had their work cut out on the chase – especially given the fact that no one team was keen to commit to reeling in the five leading riders.  Frustration began to simmer in the peloton as the sprinters’ teams got edgy.  Etixx-Quickstep sent Tony Martin to the head of the bunch to chase in earnest, a role he didn’t seem exactly pleased to be asked to fulfil.

With the finish line in sight and 100m of road left, the breakaway hesitated, looking at one another and appearing to have lost all sense of race tactics.  Seizing this opportunity – the only one they’d been presented with all day, the peloton took the initiative and swept up the five leaders.

Sagan, coming from well back, managed to glide through gaps visible to no-one but the Slovak rider, as his bike handling skills saw him sail across the finish line for victory, in an unbelievable sprint which social media was quick to christen ‘the finish of the season’.  Team Sky’s Danny Van Poppel crossed in second place, with Nacer Boudhanni of Cofidis in third.

Sagan’s winning time of 4:10:36 sees him move up to second in GC, 3 seconds behind race leader Rohan Dennis, who retains the leader’s jersey going into day 4.  Alex Dowsett of Movistar is the highest placed British rider in 11^th place, with Tony Martin and Tom Dumoulin in 14^th and 15^th place respectively, 20 seconds back as a result of losing time on Tuesday’s TT.  Dumoulin had been enjoying a rich seam of form – perhaps his heavy race calendar and numerous top 3 placings have taken their toll as the seasons draws nearer its close.

Tomorrow, Stage 4 – the only one to top 200km, takes the riders across numerous stretches of Belgian pave, with three uphill sections on the circuit, including Bruine Put at 8.2%.

Preview – Eneco Tour Stage 3

Stage 3 begins on the Belgian coast at Blankenberge, hugging the shore until Ostend before heading inland to Ardooie.  Unless a breakaway can gain a big enough lead before reaching the Belgian town, the stage seems destined for a sprint finish.  The circuit of Ardooie is actually pretty technical, with some tight corners to navigate before a straight 1km run in.

The technical aspects of the final urban circuit may make organisation difficult, however these are the types of finish which Sagan will relish with his exquisite bike handling skills ready to come to the fore.

Freewheeling Prediction – Sagan looks to be the likely beneficiary of the technical corners in the final circuit.  After backing the Cofidis boys for an outside chance with Nacer Bouhanni on Stage 1, don’t bet against them on this stage either.  Bouhanni was close on the first day, and he has won here before in 2014.

Preview – Eneco Tour Stage 1

Monday sees the start of the Eneco Tour, the only WorldTour stage race assigned dual nationality – shared between Belgium and the Netherlands.

Appearing later in the race calendar to accommodate the Olympic Games, the race is packed with star riders using the event as the perfect preparation for the World Championships in October.  Fresh from his win at the European Championships, Sagan will be on the start line of the Eneco Tour for the first time, as Freewheeling favourite Geraint Thomas leads Team Sky supported by previous World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski and Brits Luke Rowe, Andrew Fenn and Ben Swift.

Although the route favours the Classics experts, the race contains something for everyone with flat stages, hilly stages, a team time trial and an individual TT.   Last year Belgian Tom Wellens of Lotto-Soudal took the overall classification, with Olympic road race champion Greg Van Avermaet of BMC in second.  This year offers a favourable parcours for sprinters, with Andre Greipel, Peter Sagan, Nacer Bouhanni, Caleb Ewan, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb all in the hunt for stage wins and sprint points, with the orange points jersey their ultimate prize.

Stage 1, a 184km circuit from Bolsward in the Netherlands, could see a bunch sprint on the finish line, although with part of the route hugging the coast, there is potential for echelons to form and split the peloton.  The weather forecast however looks good, so it seems likely that the bunch will finish together.  The streets are fairly narrow in the final run-in, so teams will need to be organised to avoid a messy finish and potential pile ups.

With the individual time trial on day two, the GC contenders will be on the hunt for time bonuses to secure a good TT starting position, so team tactics will come into play early in the race.

Freewheeling Prediction – A bunch sprint with the potential for one of the big names to secure the stage victory.  Greipel, Kittel and Sagan will hope to be up there, but don’t underestimate the strength of Team Cofidis, who’ll be working to deliver Nacer Bouhanni to the line, and Orica-BikeExchange have a sense of purpose with Caleb Ewan, fresh from his Tour of Britain stage win in London.

Race Report – Grand Prix de Wallonie 2016

Crossing the line in the late summer air, Lotto-Soudal’s Tony Gallopin took the first win of his 2016 season after an exhilarating final climb in the Grand Prix de Wallonie.  Freewheeling’s pick of the race, Czech Petr Vakoc of Etixx-Quickstep, came in a close second, with Jerome Baugnies of Wanty-Groupe Gobert completing the podium.

Freewheeling takes you through the breakaways, crashes, climbs and chases of the 56^th edition of the Wallonian classic….

With an individual stage win at the 2014 Tour de France, a stint in the yellow jersey at the same race, and a strong season in 2015, this year was set to be a good one for French rider Tony Gallopin.  The 28-year-old had been a mainstay of the top ten finishers in a host of prestigious races throughout the last two years, and looked set to build upon the successes and add to his impressive palmarès going into the new season.   Prior to the Grand Prix de Wallonie, Gallopin’s season hadn’t gone quite according to plan, with a number of somewhat frustrating near misses taking the place of overall victories, including a solid second place at the Clasica San Sebastian and third at Brabantse Pijl.

The Grand Prix de Wallonie was the Frenchman’s first win of the 2016 season, showing the rider coming into form in time for the European Championships this Sunday.  Although the field for this years’ Wallonian adventure was arguably less strong than in previous years, the hilly course led to a fascinating finish after 205km of hard racing, with Gallopin only just managing to hold on for victory after a valiant chase from Etixx-Quickstep’s Petr Vakoc.

This year the course featured seven tough climbs, four of which came within the last 40km of the race.  To begin with, the route was fairly flat, allowing the riders to set an aggressive pace straight from the off.  Four riders went clear of the bunch in the opening kilometre, being reeled back in soon after.  From there, the race headed into the Ardennes, with a trio of climbs loaded into the front end of the parcours.  The first of these, Cote de Saint-Hubert, came after 31km, followed by Cote de Saint-Remacle, and Cote de Webomont at almost 60km.  The middle section of the race was fairly flat, as riders anticipated the four short, sharp climbs coming up within the final 40 kilometres.

Numerous attacks were attempted in the early stages of the race, before a group of six riders managed to go clear, including Johan Le Bon of FDJ and Stef Van Zummeran of Belgian team Verandas Willems.  The break managed to establish a gap of 24 seconds before Axel Flet of Veranclassic-AGO attacked from the front of the peloton.  Flet was unable to reach the six leading riders, as the peloton ramped up the speed and started to chase.  Various attacks were launched with the breakaway now 30 seconds ahead, although none were successful until John Hemroulle (Color Code), Samuel Leroux (Veranclassic-AGO) and Gregory Habeaux (Wallonie-Bruxelles) reached the leading group with 170km remaining, the gap having grown to 4 minutes 20 seconds.

The nine man breakaway managed to extend their lead to almost 6 minutes before Lotto-Soudal started putting in big turns at the front of the peloton, aided by riders from Etixx-Quickstep.  With the gap gradually being closed and down to 2 minutes, the leading group approached the four remaining climbs as Samuel Leroux was dropped.  The race approached the 30km to go mark, with Etixx-Quickstep taking control of the peloton and bringing the gap down to under a minute.  With the chasers accelerating hard, a crash split the bunch as Benoit Jarrier of Fortureo-Vital Concept and Jonathan Fumeaux of IAM Cycling got swept up in the chaos and hit the tarmac.

With only 20 seconds remaining of their advantage, the breakaway tackled the slopes of the second of the four final climbs, Côte de Lustin.  Johan Le Bon sat up at the foot of the slope, as Habeaux accelerated, dropping riders in the attempt.  Pouilly steadily rode across the gap to rejoin Habeaux at the head of the race, leaving three clear groups on the road.  Pieter Weening of Roompot-Oranje attacked from the peloton, joined by Christian Mager of Stölting.  The pair rode up to the chase group before pulling away and bridging the gap to Habeaux and Pouilly.  Seizing the advantage, Weening stepped up the pace; dropping his three companions to lead the race alone.

On the penultimate climb, Etixx-Quickstep managed to bring the race together, mopping up what remained of the breakaway and chase groups.  Tony Gallopin and Jan Bakelants took control in a group of seven riders on the climb of Tierre aux Pierres, stretching the gap to just under half a minute.  Wanty-Groupe Gobert chased hard, closing the gap to 15 seconds at the foot of the final climb, Citadel Namur.

With time and road running out, numerous attacks were tried.  Gallopin, riding on the wheel of Bakelants, jumped with 1km to go, immediately opening up a 5 second advantage.  Vakoc made a move as the road flattened out in the final few metres of the race.  Hesitating on a corner, Vakoc seemed unsure of how to come around Gallopin in the front.  The Czech rider came within a whisker of taking the race for Etixx-Quickstep, Gallopin however held him off to cross the line in first place with a time of 5:06:17.  Vakoc was awarded the same time in second place, with Jerome Baugnies of Wanty-Groupe Gobert completing the podium for the 2016 Grand Prix de Wallonie.  Lotto-Soudal take the race for the second year in a row – will 2017 see a hat-trick in Wallonia?

Grand Prix de Wallonie -Preview

At lunchtime today, 18 teams will set off on the Grand Prix de Wallonie, a one-day race through the Wallonia region of Belgium.  The race, categorised as part of the UCI Europe Tour, was first run at professional level in 1935, and has seen a total of 36 Belgian wins from 56 editions, the most recent winner being Jens Debusschere of Lotto-Soudal.  So who has the wheels to race for the 2016 win?

Fresh from claiming victory in the 2015 edition of the GP, Lotto-Soudal return to Wallonia with a team brimming with Belgian talent.  Of the 8 riders participating for last years’ winning team, 6 are Belgian racers, with New Zealand’s Greg Hendersen and France’s Tony Gallopin adding some international flair.  Lotto-Soudal are one of five WorldTour teams in the race, the others being Etixx-Quickstep, FDJ, Ag2r La Mondiale and IAM Cycling.

The parcours is undulating throughout, beginning at Beaufays near Liège, and ending at Namur and the famed climb up to the Citadelle.  The gradient on the final climb averages 6% and tops 8% over some sections, and is sure to separate the men from the boys coming after 200k of hard racing, and featuring some technical cobbles.

Julien Vermote, wearing number 22 for Etixx-Quickstep, will be looking to capitalise on his success at last weeks’ Tour of Britain, where he wore the leader’s jersey for 4 days.  The team fielded by Etixx-Quickstep is a young one, including Vermote and the talented Petr Vakoc, who performed well in Canada recently before unfortunately crashing in the finishing straight of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.  This young squad is our pick for the 57^th Wallonian GP, coming off the back of a successful season for these stars of the future.

Look out for the Freewheeling race round-up later on!