The WorldTour returns to the land of the Spring Classics for one week in August, and that week is upon us: the 2014 Eneco Tour is here. A seven-day ride through Belgium and the Netherlands, the Eneco Tour was for many years a race decided almost exclusively by one day of time trialing, but recent years have seen more and more challenges added to the parcours to guarantee that the battle for General Classification rages across the whole week. With classics specialists having a chance to show their strength one last time on the WorldTour calendar and several riders nearing peak form for the upcoming Vuelta, competition tends to be fierce, and the 2014 edition should continue the trend.

The Route

The first two stages take place on mostly flat profiles that aren’t likely to shake up the General Classification. Stage 3 is a short (9.6 km) time trial that certainly will; however, this is not the Eneco Tour of old. Strength against the clock will always be important in a weeklong race with a chrono stage and no real mountains, but there are enough challenges in this year’s Eneco Tour to make the fight for overall victory a much more drawn-out affair.

Stage 4 takes place in the same region as the spring’s Gent-Wevelgmen, traversing some of the same roads. Fittingly, the next stage will put the peloton through a number of difficult tests made famous by the Tour of Flanders. With two full climbs up the legendary Muur van Geraardsbergen before finishing there after 160 kilometers (with visits to other familiar Ronde climbs, like the Kruisberg and Bosberg, along the way), Stage 5 is a very difficult day that is certain to play a major role in the General Classification of the Eneco Tour.

Stage 6 offers no respite: with nonstop steep climbs all the way from start to finish, including multiple trips up and over La Redoute, one of the toughest challenges of April’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege, it will bring the punchy climbers to the fore. The seventh and final stage of the race is yet another day of nonstop climbing, as the Eneco Tour culminates with a visit to Amstel Gold Race country and many of the same short, steep climbs (though not the Cauberg) that feature in that event. While the weekend of familiar challenges won’t present the riders with any single stages nearing the length of the grueling spring classics, several consecutive very difficult days will guarantee some serious selection on the GC leaderboard.

The General Classification Contenders

Zdenek Stybar returns to the race as the defending champion, with the always impressive Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad backing his campaign for a repeat victory. Strong in the time trial, capable on the shorter climbs, and even handy in a sprint for bonus seconds, Stybar has the versatile toolset to compete, though this edition of the race is even harder than last year’s and uphill ability is at an even higher premium. However, the Czech star showed his climbing mettle in the 2013 Eneco Tour, putting in his best work on the very hilly stages, and he put his climbing form on display as recently as last weekend when he landed 10th the Clasica de San Sebastian. Still, while he put in Top 10 performances in both Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix in the spring, Stybar has not landed as many big results so far this season as might have been expected, and these climbs will really put him to the test. In short, it will be a challenge holding on to his title against some very dangerous rivals. OPQS does have plenty of strong, versatile lieutenants to put the pressure on from all angles, with the likes of Niki Terpstra and Matteo Trentin (among others) in attendance and capable of getting in to the mix on all kinds of different terrain.

2013 runner-up Tom Dumoulin is an elite time trialist who may lament the fact that the chrono stage is 3.6 kilometers shorter in this year’s race, but he’s also a strong climber who should appreciate the climbing challenges that await. 2nd to Tony Martin in Stage 20 ITT in the 2014 Tour de France, he’s on sharp form this summer. He’s also shown a bit more explosiveness this season, which will be a major asset here. His skillset puts him in an excellent position to better his result from last year. Hilly parcours specialist Simon Geschke will be an excellent second.

Sky’s Geraint Thomas has all the skills necessary to fight for the top step on the podium. He has not had much of a break from racing since winning the Bayern Rundfahrt at the beginning of June, but it’s hard to draw up a better parcours for a rider who combines cobblestone prowess with good climbing legs and a particular affinity for short time trials. If he can hold on to top form all the way through the race, he will be very hard to beat. Teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen is actually a two-time winner of the Eneco Tour, but the recent increased focus on uphill tests do not favor his toolset as much as past editions did, and he may be hunting stages and playing lieutenant in this year’s race. Ian Stannard has finally returned from his long break following a serious injury suffered in the spring, and Sky will be glad to see him back on the bike in the WorldTour’s return to the Low Countries.

BMC’s Philippe Gilbert was running well in the 2013 edition before a crash forced him to abandon the race. He’s been dealing with illness recently but his top-notch performance in the RideLondon Classic suggests that he’s back to full strength and ready to contest the 2014 edition of this race. He excels in the shorter time trials, and with the Ardennes-style final two stages, I like his chances to stand on the overall podium. As is standard operating procedure for such a powerhouse team, BMC has plenty of other options: Greg Van Avermaet showed excellent form with an 8th place finish in a very difficult Clasica de San Sebastian, and the sort of climbing chops required to land a good result in that race will be crucial for the last few stages of the Eneco Tour. New acquisition Rohan Dennis, a good climber with an elite time trial, could also try to get into the mix, and Steve Cummings, great in the short chronos, is yet another option, having a strong season so far.

Trek’s Fabian Cancellara is on the startlist after cutting his Tour de France campaign short to prepare for later season goals. Despite its classics-season feel, this has never been a race he’s targeted, and it’s hard to say where it ranks on his list of 2014 goals. As the sport’s most dominant classics rider right now, Cancellara will obviously be among the top favorites if he has the form and drive to hunt for the overall victory. It’s hard to see past him whenever the Muur van Geraardsbergen is involved. His classics prowess hasn’t extended into Ardennes results in his career, but he can usually handle some short climbs, and he’s obviously a top candidate in the time trial stage. Stijn Devolder is always a dangerous teammate.

Belkin’s Lars Boom has had a great deal of success in the Eneco Tour in the past, winning in 2012, but the parcours is no longer one that suits his style quite as well, and the last two stages will be a major challenge. Bauke Mollema may be the GC rider of choice here, given the back-to-back Ardennes-like stages that close out the race. 2nd in San Sebastian, he’s clearly carried some strong form out of the disappointing Tour de France, and his underrated sprinting ability will be a major asset in a race where bonus seconds often play a significant role in the GC results. Sep Vanmarcke is also on the startlist; the parcours is probably a bit bumpy for him, but he proved in the Tour de France that he doesn’t mind a few climbs. Garmin-Sharp has Ramunas Navardauskas and Sebastian Langeveld, the former very strong in a short time trial and on up-and-down profiles, the latter a proven classics talent who was 3rd in this race back in 2009. Lotto Belisol’s two-pronged attack of Jelle Vanendert and Tim Wellens will love the look of the final two stages and could surprise some people. Bjorn Leukemans of Wanty-Groupe Gobert has a knack for landing good results on this sort of terrain. OGE’s Jens Keukeleire is a rising classics talent who could be in the mix, while teammate Michael Hepburn will likely spend at least a little time near the top of the GC leaderboard given the early position of the time trial in the race. Peter Sagan initially seemed set to participate (and contend) in this race, but he is no longer on Cannondale’s roster to make the start; Moreno Moser looks to be the team’s main hope on this parcours.

The Stagehunters

In a race without any real mountains, so many riders who spend most of their stage-racing days hunting stage victories have a rare real shot at the General Classification (and are therefore among the many aforementioned potential overall protagonists), but there are still a few sprinting heavyweights and time trialing specialists yet to be mentioned who will be searching for individual wins in the Eneco Tour.

The list of strong sprinters includes Lotto Belisol’s Andre Greipel, FDJ’s Nacer Bouhanni, Giant-Shimano’s Luka Mezgec, Lampre-Merida’s Sacha Modolo, and Trek’s Giacomo Nizzolo as likely contenders for a bunch gallop. Tyler Farrar, who did not look great in the Tour of Poland but who tends perform well in the Low Countries, Matti Breschel, OGE’s Leigh Howard and Matt Goss, Movistar’s JJ Rojas and JJ Lobato, Barry Markus, Andrea Guardini, Bryan Coquard, and Tom Boonen could also feature in the sprints.

Plenty of strong chrono riders were already named as possible GC contenders, but watch out for Alex Dowsett, Patrick Gretsch, Jesse Sergeant, and David Millar in the ITT as well.

VeloHuman Top 10 GC Favorites

Winner: Tom Dumoulin

Podium: Zdenek Stybar, Philippe Gilbert

Other Top Contenders: Geraint Thomas, Greg Van Avermaet, Fabian Cancellara, Bauke Mollema, Ramunas Navardauskas, Rohan Dennis, Jelle Vandendert

As usual, I’ll be tweeting plenty of live analysis during the race, so follow @VeloHuman on Twitter to stay connected. Also, be sure to come back soon for more previews, interviews, and analysis: the Vuelta a España is right around the corner!

-Dane Cash

Photo by Susanne.