This is a 5 days .Pro race, often hilly, which includes a Time Trial back to normal distance after the short one in 2024.
Maps and profiles of the first 2 stages:
There will be 8 WT, 7 PT, 4 Contis (I just remember that Rembe is the actual team who rode the Tour de l’Ain masquerading as the German selection…) and 1 selection for Luxembourg.
It could be a race for Grégoire (🇫🇷 FDJ), but with the TT, that’s less likely. McNulty (🇺🇸 UAE) who just co-won the GP of Montréal in Canada on Sunday may appear as the favourite; he won the (short) TT on the Tour of Poland one month earlier.
Last year, Tiberi (🇮🇹 Barhein) won thanks to a good performance in the TT and a breakaway in the last stage. His team isn’t present this year.
edit: Stages 3 to 5
The Time Trial:
Stage 2
A young rider from Lotto’s dev. conti under the jersey of the Luxembourgish selection, Kockelmann, managed to beat the other sprinters! It is a confirmation that the quality of the startlist is much lower than on the previous 2 years.
Van den Berg lead the sprint from very far and is passed near the line by several guys, thus ends up out of the time bonuses, so Grégoire keeps the leader’s jersey.
Giacomo Villa, from Wagner-Bazin finishes in 6th position while there are UCI points only for the first 5. Story of this team.