Encouraged by the strong result achieved today at Veenendaal–Veenendaal, where Alberto Bruttomesso sprinted to 10th place against some of the fastest riders in the bunch, Bahrain Victorious heads to Belgium for another one-day race on the northern calendar.
The GP Criquielion, scheduled for Sunday, May 24, pays tribute to Claudy Criquielion, the 1984 World Champion and one of Belgian cycling’s most iconic figures.
The race will take place on the undulating roads of Wallonia and, while the 2026 edition largely follows the format of recent years, some changes have been introduced. Riders will now tackle a single circuit instead of the two used previously, while the start in Ath and the finish in Lessines remain unchanged, although the finish line has been moved slightly further forward.
After an opening 11.1 km section, the peloton will enter a 38.5 km local circuit to be covered five times. The route includes several rolling sections, the traditional cobbled sectors of Rue Saint Géréon (100 m) and Rue La Blanche (500 m), plus two key climbs: Côte du Mont (2.2 km at 3%, max 10%) and the newly introduced Côte du Hurdumont (640 m at 8%, max 13%). Positioned respectively 18.6 km and 11.7 km from the finish, these climbs could provide the ideal launchpad for late attacks and prevent a straightforward bunch sprint.
Sports Director Nikolas Maes previews the race:
“Compared to today’s Veenendaal race, GP Criquielion is definitely a harder race because of the more demanding parcours and also depending on how aggressively the teams decide to race. We hope to play a role with Pau Miquel and Alessandro Borgo as our leaders, but we also have a solid team around them with Matevž Govekar.
We need to stay adaptable depending on how the race develops. If the race becomes aggressive early on, especially on the hardest sections of the local circuit, it’s important for us to always be represented in the key moves. From the final 60 kilometres onward we need to race attentively, and in the last 20 kilometres we want to be active and avoid missing any decisive situation. If the race is controlled and comes down to a sprint, then we must avoid bringing a full peloton at high speed to the finish. The goal is to race smart and fight for a strong result.”
Alongside leaders Borgo and Pau Miquel, Matevž Govekar will look to be active on the tougher parts of the course. Bruttomesso, Max van der Meulen and Oliver Stockwell will focus on positioning the team before the decisive sectors, while Mihajlo Stolić will support the sprint setup in the finale.
