June 1, 2026
The Giro d'Italia is but a day in the rear view mirror but there is already another event to catch our attention. The Ethias-Tour de Wallonie is always an aggressive race with a challenging parcours and the GC is usually influenced by time bonuses throughout the week. The opening day of five starts in Manage for 180 km to the finish in Lobbes on the outskirts of Charleroi. The roads in Wallonie are always twisting and rolling and, even though there are no real mountains to speak of, the bunch will have gained 2,000 meters of elevation by the end of day one. On course, there is an intermediate sprint in Jemeppe-sur-Sambre and the categorized climb of the Côte de Trémouroux but the action should kick off once the riders enter the finish circuit with 48 km remaining. On each of the two full laps, there is the Mur de Thuin, a 400 meter rise at 9% and the 1.1 km climb which averages just under 5% which brings the riders to about 1 km to the finish line. There are countless other unnoted hills making this stage suited to a hearty sprinter or puncheur.
Highlighted Riders:
Riley Sheehan, Arnaud De Lie, Milan Menten, Natnael Tesfatsion, Axel Laurance, Sam Welsford, Adrien Boichis, Jordi Meeus, Riley Pickrell, Davide De Pretto, Anders Foldager, Tom Crabbe, Kévin Avoine
Race Summary
It was a bucolic scene as the race got underway rolling through open land of wheat and oats. It took some time but a group of three broke clear including Dries De Bondt of Jayco AlUla, Samuel Flórez of Modern Adventure, and Jarno Bellens of Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions. Oscar Schempp of BIKE AID was chasing when a call went out to the riders and DS's that the race would be neutralized. A section of road was completely broken and unpassable on the right side. It would have been a disaster if the riders tried to race through. The bunch set off to resume racing with their original time gaps but Schempp wasn't able to make it up to the lead group was eventually absorbed into the peloton. With 83 km remaining, the break had established a 1 minute 45 second gap with Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Lotto Intermarché controlling in the bunch.
Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe did the bulk of the chasing and kept the break at 1 minute 45 seconds when they entered the circuit with 48 km remaining. The roads on the approach to the finish line were quite narrow at points with a few turns through villages and plenty of traffic furniture. The break was able to squeeze out another 15 seconds by the time they entered the streets of Lobbes just outside 38 km remaining. De Bondt led across the Sambre River and kept the power down on the lower section of the rise to the line. Flórez pulled the break through the finish line with 36 km to go with around 90 seconds back to the bunch as Flanders Baloise and NSN Cycling each added a man to the chase.
With 31 km to go, the break turned hard left with almost no speed to hit the Mur de Thuin. The road was just wide enough for a single car and it was cobbled, making it harder than expected from what it seemed on the profile. The entire way up, the riders could see the 850 year old UNESCO listed Belfry of Thuin sitting proudly in the old town of Thuin overlooking the Sambre valley. A nice crowd had gathered for a Monday afternoon but they would have to wait another lap for action because Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe had a tight grip on proceedings and kept things under control.
The next few kilometers of the circuit were pretty technical with lots of traffic furniture and tight roads before it opened up again through wide expanses of fields above the river valley. NSN Cycling were drilling it and with 20 km to go, they had the three leaders within 30 seconds. The bunch was quickly back around the circuit and over the Sambre again to start the final rise coming into one lap to go. NSN Cycling continued their effort which caught the break and started to shed riders out the back. Most of the peloton, at least 80 riders, made it over the finish line together and the race was on to position for the final ascent of the Mur de Thuin.
NSN Cycling won the battle into the sharp left corner of the Mur de Thuin and Krists Neilands put in a searing seated attack when he hit the cobbles. Axel Laurance of Netcompany-Ineos was right on the wheel and a small group formed over the top with Laurence Pithie of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Liam Slock of Lotto Intermarché, Sente Sentjens of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Anders Foldager of Jayco AlUla, and Ben Oliver of Modern Adventure. The composition of teams was right but the cohesion was not and group was brought back with 10 km remaining.
A number of counter attacks went but none got more than a few meters before being wound back in. NSN Cycling regained control and the group was settled coming into Lobbes for the finish. Netcompany-Ineos and Flanders Baloise stretched the peloton out across the bridge coming into Lobbes with 2.5 km to go. The pace was hard but not ballistic and Neilands took a flyer right before they crested. Netcompany-Ineos and Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe teamed up to bring the Latvian back just as the lead outs were forming with 400 meters to go.
The organization of the lead out was not great due to the confusion created by Neilands's attack. Modern Adventure got a run inside 300 meters to go with Oliver who got a small gap as his teammate let the wheel go. Oliver kept charging towards the line but Foldager was chasing with Kim Heiduk of Netcompany-Ineos and Jordi Meeus of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe in his wheel. With 50 meters to go, Oliver was tying up and Meeus was able to push through a gap and open his sprint. In just a few pedal revolutions, Meeus put a full bike length into the rest and sailed across the line with arms spread wide. Folders was next with Heiduk in third and Oliver holding on for fourth.
Meeus now leads the race overall thanks to the bonus seconds over Foldager and Heiduk.