By Karen Lambrecht

Preview

Traditionally, the Tour du Région Wallonne is held in the week after the Tour de France. During the years it has become a good preparation for the World Cup races in August. The riders will take the start at Flobecq on Monday and will finish at Chaudfontaine on Friday.

Stages

Stage 1 Flobecq – Charleroi

Stage 2 Waterloo – Nivelles

Stage 3 Namur – Bouillon

Stage 4 Houffalize – Aubel

Stage 5 Amay – Chaudfontaine

Last Year: General classification

1. Paolo Bettini
2. Luca Paolini
3. Daniele Nardello
4. Bjorn Leukemans
5. Janek Tombak

Teams

16 teams of 7 riders will take the start.

We notice a very strong Fassa Bortolo Team including Michele Bartoli, Fabian Cancellara and Filippo Pozzato. Other big names at the start: Peter Van Petegem, Johan Museeuw, Nico Mattan, Ludo Dierckxsens and Andrea Tafi.

These are the teams who are competing:

Quickstep-Davitamon (incl. Museeuw, Horrillo)

Lotto-Domo (incl. Van Petegem, Eeckhout)

Fassa Bortolo (incl. Bartoli, Cancellara, Pozzato)

Cofidis (incl. Mattan, Peers, Planckaert)

Team Telekom (incl. Julich)

Team CSC (incl. Michaelsen, Tafi)

US Postal-Berry Floor (Barry, Joachim, Kjaergaard, Mikhailov, Van Heeswijk and White)

Team Fakta (incl. Backstedt, Sunderland)

Palmans Collstrop (incl. Hammond)

AG2R Prevoyance (incl. Agnolutto, Scanlon)

Landbouwkrediet-Colango (incl. Capelle, Dierckxsens, Popovych)

Brioches La Boulangere (incl. Magnien, Kern)

FDJeux.com (incl. Robin, Guesdon)

Vlaanderen T Interim (incl. Demeyere)

Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf (incl. Brard, Bruylandts)

Rabobankt T3 (Weening, Dekkers)

Stage 1: Flobecq – Charleroi 158.9 km

Nico Eeckhout has won the first stage in the Tour du Région Wallonne. He beat his two companions, Thierry De Groote and Wim Van Huffel, in the sprint.

The peloton had to ride 160 km from Flobecq to Charleroi.

80 km before the finish three riders took off: Nico Eeckhout, Thierry De Groote and Wim Van Huffel. They took more than 8 minutes on the peloton, where Landbouwkrediet-Colnago tried to catch the leaders.

The three leaders kept a lead of just some seconds and reached the finish line to sprint to win.

Stage 1 results:

1. Nico Eeckhout (Lotto-Domo) 4.00.01
2. Thierry De Groote (Palmans-Collstrop)
3. Wim Van Huffel (Vlaanderen T Interim)
4. Stefan Van Dijk (Lotto-Domo) à 0.19
5. Marco Zanotti (Fassa Bortolo)
6. David Kopp (Team Telekom)
7. Magnus Backstedt (Team Fakta)
8. Sébastien Chavanel (Brioches la Boulangere)
9. Jimmy Engoulvent (Brioches la Boulangere)
10. Kristof Trouvé (Palmans-Collstrop)

Ranking

1. Nico Eeckhout (Lotto-Domo)
2. Thierry De Groote (Palmans-Collstrop) à 0.06
3. Wim Van Huffel (Vlaanderen T Interim) à 0.10
4. Stefan Van Dijk (Lotto-Domo) à 0.35
5. Marco Zanotti (Fassa Bortolo)
6. David Kopp (Team Telekom)
7. Magnus Backstedt (Team Fakta)
8. Sébastien Chavanel (Brioches la Boulangere)
9. Jimmy Engoulvent (Brioches la Boulangere)
10. Kristof Trouvé (Palmans-Collstrop)

Thanks to the official website: www.trworg.be