Bahrain Victorious name a strong 7-man Classics lineup for the only UCI WorldTour stage race in Belgium and the Netherlands, newly named Benelux Tour, formerly known as BinckBankTour and Eneco Tour.
Despite the new name, the soul is the same for the 7-day race (30 August–5 September) that features the return of the cobblestones in the second part of the season. The course offers a mix of pure sprinters stages, some demanding typical Flanders challenges on the final weekend and a chance for time trial specialists on the second day.
This edition of the race will have one more reason to be competitive as it represents preparation and a proper dress rehearsal for the World Championships that will take place in Flanders in a few weeks.
Rolf Aldag, Bahrain Victorious SD, commented on the team’s strategies: “We’re heading to the Benelux Tour with high ambitions as we have a super-strong, motivated and committed team, and such talented riders to go into every stage to win it.
We don’t hide that the General Classification will be a goal, too, having a former race winner like Matej Mohorič and Sonny Colbrelli, both showing excellent skills on the Belgian roads, across hilly and cobbled roads. Likely the race will be decided on the last day, with the traditional course around the legendary Muur van Geraardsbergen. But the race will be demanding in general because we have to face also other difficulties, as crosswinds and the tricky golden kilometer bonuses.
Especially the time trial day will be a key moment. There we want to score result with the team pursuit gold medalist Jonathan Milan. We have to consider he’s returning to the road after Olympics, but this TT suits him. Therefore we’re expecting a good performance from him as well as Fred Wright, who did a fantastic time trial at the Tour de France, taking 15th place. Fred can also have his opportunities in a breakaway.
Phil Bauhaus and Marcel Sieberg will join the team right after the Deutschland Tour. With Phil, we will target pure flat stages, so immediately the opening one. Our experienced road captain Heinrich Haussler completes the lineup. He will be like our third Sports Director, taking the quick decisions on the field. He had to abandon Tour de Pologne due to sciatica pain, but he’s back in good shape. As other teams riders competing here, some of our boys are making the selection for the Worlds, so I’m expecting extra motivation and a very high level of racing”.
Matej Mohorič: “I’m going to Benelux Tour with GC ambitions. I’ve been doing well in the last couple of months, so I’m confident that the shape is still good, and I’m trying to peak for the World Championships. I will do my best to try to gain some bonus seconds in the Golden KM in the first stage, do a good TT and then do as good as I can in the last two hard stages. I’ll try to come out with a good GC, and if the legs are good, try maybe to win the Benelux Tour”.
Sonny Colbrelli: “I’m returning to races after the Tour de France and a high altitude training camp I did to prepare this second part of the season. There will be two big appointments on the menu, as European Championships and above all the Worlds, which particularly suits me this year. I feel good, and I will test myself here at the Benelux Tour, where I will try to move one or more steps up on the podium on the last stage where I was third last year, and that would mean also improving the final overall ranking”.
Team Bahrain Victorious for Benelux Tour: Phil Bauhaus, Sonny Colbrelli, Heinrich Haussler, Jonathan Milan, Matej Mohorič, Fred Wright, Marcel Sieberg.
