Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 11:32 AM
The Circuit de Wallonie is becoming a permanent fixture in the Lotto Cycling Cup. Traditionally there are opportunities for second-line riders, in Wallonia these are mainly the fast men who can get over a hill, such as top favorite Arnaud De Lie. CyclingFlits looks ahead.
History
Last ten winners of Circuit de Wallonie
2023: Jordi Meeus
2022: Axel Zingle
2021: 
Christophe Laporte
2020: Not held due to the corona crisis
2019: Thomas Boudat
2018: Mikkel Frølich Honoré
2017: Maarten van Trijp
2016: Kevin Lalouette
2015: Stef Van Zummeren
2014: 
Maurits Lammertink
Previous edition
Result Circuit de Wallonie 2023
1. 
Jordi Meeus (BORA-hansgrohe)
2. Lionel Taminiaux (Alpecin-Deceuninck) all st
3. Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
4. Milan Menten (Lotto Dstny)
5. Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ)
Trail
The center of this competition is still in Mont-sur-Marchienne, a town on the outskirts of Charleroi. As the crow flies, this is about twenty kilometers away from Wanfercée-Baulet, where the roots of this race lie. The total distance is 190.8 kilometers. The starting location is still the Place Verte, and the finish is also located in Mont-sur-Marchienne, as usual.
The first sixty kilometers of the race are not too difficult. The riders will pass well-known Walloon racing villages such as Thuin (known for the wall that is always visited in the Tour de Wallonie), Binche (home of Intermarché-Wanty) and Les Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure. The Baloise Belgium Tour has often been a guest there and several Belgian championships also regularly pitch their tents there.
It is also from Les Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure that the terrain becomes more rugged, although the roads in Wallonia are of course always a bit ‘Spanish flat’ with continuous stretches of false flat uphill. At 65 kilometers from the end the riders will meet in Walcourt Rue Bassea slope with 250 meters of cobblestones, immediately following the Rue Toffette, which rises to 14%. The triptych of steep slopes ends at 43 kilometers from the finish with the Rue des Monthyswith maximum percentages up to 14%.
Then it suddenly goes very quickly towards the local circuit around Charleroi. At 32.4 kilometers from the finish, the riders cross the finish line in Mont-sur-Marchienne for the first time, after which three more laps of 10.8 kilometers follow. These are identical to last year’s edition and include a fairly difficult slope of 600 meters at 6.4% at the start of each lap. The penultimate kilometer towards the arrival at the Chaussée de Thuin also increases considerably.
Thursday May 9, 2024: Charleroi – Mont-sur-Marchienne (190.8 km)
Start: 1:10 p.m
Finish: between 5:25 and 5:40 p.m
Favorites
Organizer Franco La Paglia has convinced five WorldTeams to travel to Charleroi for this edition of the Circuit de Wallonie. It is of course logical that Intermarché-Wanty is participating again in Charleroi. As well as the participation of the Belgian Alpecin-Deceuninck, which, as usual, brings a selection of riders from both the training team and the main squad to competitions like this. And also Visma | Lease a Bike, Cofidis and Arkéa-B&B Hotels are present.
De Lie knows what winning is again – photo: Cor Vos
But we clearly have to look for the top favorite with Lotto Dstny, one of the seven ProTeams at the start. Arnaud De Lie has been back on track since its short break after a failed spring. Of course, the Bull of Lescheret did not have to compete against the biggest names in the Famenne Ardenne Classic and Tro Bro Léon, that will only have to happen again from the Tour of Switzerland. But it is proof that De Lie has been able to rekindle his winning instinct. In an uphill sprint he can hardly be beaten.
And that is precisely what he will be presented with in the coming Circuit de Wallonie. An area that suits him perfectly, although he did not fully excel here in his first and only previous participation – in 2022. Then the final stretch towards the finish turned out to be a bit too difficult for De Lie, causing him to finish twelfth. But the De Lie of 2024 has already gained strength. So we expect that the Walloon crowd favorite will want to end his short competition block with a victory in his own province.
The list of participants is not yet known. This preview will be supplemented as soon as this is the case.
Favorites according to WielerFlits
**** Arnaud De Lie
***
**
*
Website organization
Participant list
Weather and TV
The riders should not fear rain on Thursday in the always gray Charleroi. According to Meteovista Temperatures up to 21 degrees Celsius are expected, but it will remain cloudy. The wind is blowing at three Beaufort and comes from the west.
The Circuit de Wallonie will be added to the online channels Eurosport.nl/Discovery+ can be seen. The live broadcast on the websites starts at 3:35 PM, preference is given to the Giro d’Italia on television.
