Five varied opportunities on Belgium Tour
Team Polti Kometa travels to Belgium with the team that has already competed in the ZLM Tour to continue looking for their chances in a race where they already did a great job in 2023. The usual stages with hard climbs and explosive finishes will mark the competition that will be simultaneous with the Tour of Slovenia.
Belgium Tour will start with a 12-kilometre time trial in Beringen, while the second and fifth day will be the most favourable for a sprint finish, the latter in the capital Brussels. The climbs will be protagonist on the third stage of almost 190 kilometres, with two laps of the final circuit that includes three short climbs on the way to the finish in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem. The queen stage, the fourth day, which will decide the overall classification, consists of five laps of an approx. 35-km circuit with four climbs at each turn, to complete 177 kilometres. More than 3,000 metres of elevation gain in a real tribute to Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
The Team Polti Kometa line-up repeats several riders who were present at the ZLM Tour: Erik Fetter will be the reference for the fight for the general classification due to his power and ability on the terrain of the Belgium Tour. The courage of Davide Bais and Andrea Pietrobon will allow them to be protagonists in the breakaways of the long days. In the sprint finishes, Javi Serrano will be their best asset. The versatile Diego Sevilla, road captain, and the young Davide De Cassan complete the squad. Manuel Peñalver will not be in competition due to a minor health problem, so the team will compete with six riders.
Erik Fetter: ‘We have had a great week at ZLM Tour, always at the front and always present in the breakaways. We gave everything we had in our aim for victory. And with that same mentality we face Belgium Tour, where we start with a time trial and it will be an important day for the general classification. Then we will have opportunities in the flat stages and also in those real classics with the Belgian hills. If we continue to ride like we do, it will surely be a race where we can achieve great results”.
Biagio Conte, sport director: ‘The Pro Series category raises the level of this Belgium Tour. The narrow roads, the cobbles, the wind… will be decisive in the race. For our part, I think we’ll do well in the time trial with Erik Fetter, but the overall classification will be decided on the more than 3,000 metres of elevation gain on stage four. We will look for opportunities in the breakaway, but without losing sight of the sprints where Javi Serrano has shown that he is capable of taking advantage of the work of other teams to look for his opportunities”.
