The Hague > The Hague 3.1km

What was the Tour of Holland and Simac Ladies Tour has now become the Eneco Tour. Both men and women will be racing on the same day, the road stages see the women do a shorter distance than the men, which is easy to do as all stages feature lap circuits. The opening prologue will see the men and women alternate from the start gate, another new feature of the race. 

Weather

Despite starting at 18:00 local time, it’s still going to be 17 degrees and sunny. There’s a 30% chance of rain at 15:00, so the early starts could have wet roads. Those going early with also have the strongest of the wind, it’s definitely a day to start as late as possible.

Route

A little loop round the park, just 3.1km in length, it will be over in the blink of an eye.

Contenders

Christophe Laporte – 4^th in the prologue last year, he then went on to win the race overall. The Frenchman looked excellent in Paris-Tours, he’ll be confident of doing well this week, including winning this stage.

Lieke Nooijen – the Dutch TT champion, but current shape isn’t great. I would still expect her to be strong, winning this stage will be a big target for her and the team. In fact, Visma would be delighted if they can win both stages.

Edoardo Affini – another Visma option for the win, but my concern is that 3km might be too short for him. Affini is a big diesel of a rider, 3km doesn’t give him much time to get the big engine going.

Femke Markus – incredibly, she raced on Sunday in China and starts in The Hauge on Tuesday, hopefully she was in business class! Markus is exactly the type of powerhouse who can win a short prologue, I assume her travel back from China went smoothly. 

Jakob Söderqvist – the big Swede was in the break on Sunday, that was for 160km, fatigue could be an issue. He was 3^rd in last year’s prologue, he’ll be going for the win.

Charlotte Kool – sprinters love prologues, this is a chance for Kool to take the win and move into the race lead. She was 9^th in the 8.4km ITT in the Baloise Ladies Tour, this shorter distance should allow her to go for the win.

Ethan Hayter – won the 4km prologue last year, as a former team pursuit world champion, this distance is just about perfect for him. I was delighted to see that Ethan has signed with Q36.5, it’s a great move for him, hopefully he can end his time at QuickStep with another win.

Christina Schweinberger – one of the best TT riders on the start list, but it could well be too short for the Austrian. 

Finn Fisher-Black – was a disappointing 12^th in the 3.4km prologue in the TDU earlier this year. He followed that up with 9^th in the Romandie prologue, I think he should be pushing for the top 3 in this stage.

Letizia Borghesi – another sprinter type who should be good over such a short distance. After a brilliant 2025, the Italian hasn’t had an amazing year, hopefully she can end it on a high.

Michiel Mouris – another Red Bull option. Just 19 years old, he was 3^rd earlier this year in the Sibiu Tour prologue. He’s also got the extra motivation of being Dutch, he could cause an upset.

Pfeiffer Georgi – has the raw power required for an effort like this. 

Nils Eekhoff – 6^th last year over 4km, he’d normally be a good option for this stage, but his form isn’t good.

Sandrine Tas – my dark horse for this stage, Tas is a rider I’ve been keeping an eye on. I’ve previously mentioned that she’s ready to step up to the next level, winning this stage would get the attention required.

Mick van Dijke – I’ve included him despite not having great form, I’m not sure he’s going to be in the mix for the win.

Lonneke Uneken – another of the sprinter type riders who’ll hope to upset the TT specialists. Uneken already has a prologue win to her name this year, she’s got the power you need for a short effort like this.

Prediction Time

I’ll go with Christophe Laporte and Charlotte Kool.

Betting Corner

As most of you already know, I’m not a big fan of betting on TTs, but I’ll make an exception. Laporte at 5/1 looks big and I’d be all over him for GC at 6/4.