Tour of Belgium 2013

The Tour of Belgium was for the first time organized in 1908. Nowadays, the race is called the Baloise Belgium Tour. The 2013 edition takes place from May 22d till May 26th. It consists of 5 stages, with start in Lochristi (East-Flanders) and finish in Banneux (Liège).

FInal standings :
1.    Tony Martin (DE)     17h28'32"
2.    Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (ES)36"
3.    Philippe Gilbert (BE)    51"
4.    Andreas Klöden (DE)    1'18"
5.    Tom Dumoulin (NL)    1'30"
6.    Francesco Gavazzi (It)    1'36"
7.    Kristof Vandewalle (BE)    1'43"
8.    Jurgen Roelandts (BE)    1'44"
9.    Niki Terpstra (NL)    1'49"
10.  Aleksey Tsatevitsj (Rus) 2'04"

Stages :

First stage May 22nd : Lochristi - Knokke-Heist (194.3 km - 120.73 mi)

Results stage 1 :
1.    André Greipel (DE)    181 km 4h34'53
2.    Tom Boonen (BE)    
3.    Ramon Sinkeldam (NL)    s.t.
4.    Danny van Poppel (NL)    s.t.
5.    Michael Van Staeyen (NL) s.t.    
6.    Yukiya Arashiro (Jap)    s.t.
7.    Tom Van Asbroeck (NL)     s.t.    
8.    Niki Terpstra (NL)    s.t.
9.    Maxime Vantomme        s.t.
10.  Adrien Petit (FR)    s.t.

This is a flat stage, with as mall loop in the Netherlands.

Second stage May 23th : Knoke-Heist - Ninove (181 km - 112.47 mi)

Results stage 2 :
1.    André Greipel (DE)    181 km 4h11'29"
2.    Danny van Poppel (NL)    s.t.
3.    Tom Boonen (BE)    
4.    Aleksandr Porsev (Rus)    
5.    Adrien Petit (Fr)    
6.    Simone Ponzi (It)    
7.    Aleksej Tsatevitsj (Rus)    
8.    Roeslan Tlejoebajev (Kaz)    
9.    Niki Terpstra (NL)    
10.  Ramon Sinkeldam (NL)

The second stage includes some of the famous climbs in the Flemish Ardennes, and promises to become a tough one.

Climbs :
Tenbosse
Parikeberg
Denderoordstraat
Abdijstraat (2x)
Bosberg (2x)
Congoberg (2x)

The arrival lies in Meerbeke, untill 2011 also the finish of the Tour of Flanders.

Third stage, May 24th : Beveren - Individual Time Trial (15 km - 9.32 mi)

Results :
1.    Tony Martin (DE)    15 km h 17'42"
2.    Tom Dumoulin (NL)    40"
3.    Artem Ovetsjkin (Rus)    43"
4.    Aleksander Serov (Rus)    46"
5.    Ben Hermans (BE)    46"
6.    Kristof Vandewalle (BE)    53"
7.    Damien Gaudin (Fr)    56"
8.    Tom Boonen (BE)    1'00"
9.    William Clarke (Aus)    1'00"
10.  Niki Terpstra (NL)    1'01"
This time trial covers a quite technical course.

Fourth stage, May 25th : Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure - Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure (164.3 km - 102.09 mi)

Results :
1.    Maksim Iglinski (Kaz)    164km  2h36'02"
2.    André Greipel (De)    2"
3.    Philippe Gilbert (Be)    s.t.
4.    Danny van Poppel (Nl)    
5.    Francesco Gavazzi (It)    
6.    Yukiya Arashiro (Jap)    
7.    Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (SAf)    
8.    Marcel Meisen (De)    
9.    Tom Van Asbroeck     
10.  Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux)

This is most certainly a challenging stage, in a slightly rolling landscape. In the final, there are 3 relatively small climbs, amongst them one just before the arrival with an average of 5 - 7 %.

Fifth stage, May 26th : Banneux - Banneux (175.6 km - 109.11 mi)

1.    Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (ES)    176 km
2.    Francesco Gavazzi (It)    27"
3.    Philippe Gilbert (BE)    s.t.
4.    Andreas Klöden (De)    
5.    Tony Martin (De)    
6.    Jurgen Roelandts (BE) 47"
7.    Jérôme Baugnies (BE)    1'13"
8.    Marcel Meisen (DE)    1'16"
9.    Yukiya Arashiro (Jap)    1'17"
10.  Sergey Lagutin (Oez)    s.t.

This final stage contains a lot of climbs, which can certainly influence the final results of the Baloise Belgium Tour.

Climbs :
Les Forges
Chambralles
Niaster (2x)
La Redoute (3x)
Cöte de Banneux (3x)