Ede > Ede 120km (men) 80km (women)

Stage 1 of the Eneco Tour, the men do 3 laps of the 40km circuit, the women do 2. There’s a golden kilometre dishing out bonus seconds too, which could be very important in terms of the fight for the overall titles.

Weather

Nice day with a max of 17 degrees and hardly any wind.

Circuit

Flat.

Unspectacular.

Tactics

No wind and nice weather makes it even more likely to be a bunch sprint. 

Finale

Straight road south and then a left corner with 500m to go.

You can see the road rises up to the finishing line. The Dutch championship was held here last year, Danny van Poppel and Lorena Wiebes took the wins.

400m at 3.1%.

Contenders

Tim Merlier – he’ll start as the overwhelming favourite to win the stage. Merlier is a level above the other sprinters, QuickStep just need to make sure he’s in a half decent position for the final corner and that should be that. They’ll need to invest a few riders into chasing the break, most of the other teams should be looking to apply a little pressure on them. Merlier will have Van Lerberghe on lead out, everything is pointing to another win.

Christophe Laporte – should be sprinting for Visma in the hope of picking up some bonus seconds. He’s not a bunch sprinter anymore, but the uphill finish will allow him to fight for the top 3, especially as Visma should have Affini to deliver him into a good position for the sprint.

Sente Sentjens – big lump of a lad who rides for Alpecin, he’s got the grunt required for a finish like this. 

Steffen De Schuyteneer – another powerfully built rider, the Lotto man will hope to mix it with the bigger names here. The Belgian has had an okay year, but he’s not taken a win yet.

Davide Donati – recently beat Magnier in the final stage of the CRO race, if anyone can challenge Merlier, it’s going to be the Italian. He’s still got a lot to learn about racing at this level, but he does have the top end speed required to challenge for the top 3.

Pavel Bittner – got his first win of the season in his last race, Bittner will approach this stage with confidence. After a very good 2025, he’s struggled at times this year, but so have the whole of the Picnic team. He’s got Eekhoff to lead him out, I’d expect Bittner to be one of the best in this stage.

Dylan Groenewegen – 3^rd here in the Dutch championships, he’s one of the few who knows this finish, but the lap circuit means he won’t really have an advantage as everyone will get a look at the finish. Unibet Rose Rockets have done really well this year, they always do a great job in the lead out, but the uphill grind isn’t ideal for Groenewegen.

David Dekker – I’ve been banging on about Dekker moving back up the ranks for a while now, but nothing has been announced as yet. He’s still a good sprinter, but I think he’d make a brilliant lead out man if riding for a “big” team. He was 5^th in Binche, so the current form is good, hopefully he can put himself in the shop window.

Edward Theuns – hopefully Eddie can get a rare chance to have a sprint. If Söderqvist can put him into a good spot for the final kilometre, the uphill kick is a good one for Looney. 

Charlotte Kool – the women’s race also has a huge favourite; Kool should be much stronger than her rivals. Fenix have a good team to support in the finale, anything but a win will be seen as a big disappointment.

Femke Markus – SD Worx have three potential options for a sprint stage, I’m thinking they’ll go with Markus, with Gerritse and Guarischi on lead out duties. This will give them the best lead out, but not the fastest sprinter.

Pfeiffer Georgi – I’m not sure if Picnic will go with Georgi or Griffin, I know who I would pick. Georgi doesn’t have the speed to win the stage, but I think she can challenge for the top 5.

Quinty Ton – top 10 contender.

Nicole Steigenga – 3rd in Binche, where she executed an excellent sprint. If she has a similar level, she could get close to Kool.

Lotto – they have two options for the win, Tas and Riedmann. I would normally say this should be for Tas, but Riedmann just beat Kool in Binche, she’s earned another crack at a win. If they two of them work well together, they could upset the big names.

Lonneke Uneken – anther who’ll enjoy the uphill finish, but I can’t see her winning.

Prediction Time

It’s hard to see past the two big favourites, it should be a day for Tim Merlier and Charlotte Kool.

Betting Corner

1/2 might put you off but that’s good value. I probably wouldn’t do a single but look to add this into a multi-sport acca.