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Beautiful names at the start of the 41st edition of the Tour de Wallonie

Riders who take advantage of the new race dates to prepare for the Tour de France.

The Tour de Wallonie will take place behind closed doors and only people who live along the route will be able to come and support the runners. The Walloon stage race usually takes place in July during the Tour de France but the coronavirus has disrupted the international calendar.

With races like the Dauphiné reserved for climbers, some leaders have chosen Belgium to prepare for the Grande Boucle. Nine WorldTour teams will be at the start including Lotto-Soudal with Caleb Ewan and John Degenkolb and Deceuninck-Quick Step with Sam Bennett.

Oliver Naesen and Greg Van Avermaet will be the two big Belgian names at the start. Arnaud Démare will also be present along with Max Walscheid, Phil Bauhaus, Giacomo Nizzolo, Nacer Bouhanni, Mark Cavendish and the Belgian champion Tim Merlier. Matteo Trentin, Zdenek Stybar and Niki Terpstra, who is returning after injury, will also be in the game.

The Tour de Wallonie will start on Sunday and has four stages, two of which are reserved for sprinters and two for puncheurs on a hilly course. The route has also been slightly modified after the withdrawals of Ath and Tubize, replaced by Templeuve and Frasnes-lez-Anvaing.

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