The 2018 Tour of Belgium, known as the 2018 Baloise Belgium Tour for sponsorship purposes, was the 88th edition of the

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Betw ...

cycling

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

. It took place from 23 to 27 May 2018 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, as part of the

2018 UCI Europe Tour The 2018 UCI Europe Tour was the fourteenth season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2018 season began on 25 January 2018 with the Vuelta a Mallorca, Trofeo Porreres, Felanitx, Ses Salines, Campos and ended on 16 October 2018 with the Nationale Sluiting ...

; it was categorised as a 2.HC race.

Jens Keukeleire Jens Keukeleire (born 23 November 1988) is a Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Major results ;2009 : 3rd Circuit de Wallonie : 4th Road race, UEC European Road Championships : 6th Kattekoers : ...

() successfully defended his title, winning the race for a second consecutive year.

Teams

20 teams were selected to take part in Tour of Belgium. Three of these were

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

s, with eleven

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

teams, five

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

teams and a team representing the Belgium national team.

Schedule

Stages

Stage 1

;23 May 2018 —

Buggenhout Buggenhout () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Buggenhout proper, Briel, Opdorp, and . In 2021, Buggenhout had a total population of 14,689. The total area is ...

to Buggenhout,

Stage 2

;24 May 2018 —

Lochristi Lochristi () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality is composed of the towns of , Lochristi proper, and . As of 2021, Lochristi had a total population of 22,621. The total area is . Notable people ...

Knokke-Heist Knokke-Heist (; french: Knocke-Heist) is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heist-aan-Zee, Knokke, Duinbergen, Ramskapelle and Westkapelle. On January 1, 2006 Knokke-Heist had a total ...

Stage 3

;25 May 2018 —

Bornem Bornem (, old spelling: ''Bornhem'') is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the village of Bornem proper, Hingene, and Weert, and . There are also the hamlets of Branst, Buitenland, Eikevliet ...

to Bornem, ,

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

(ITT)

Stage 4

;26 May 2018 —

Wanze Wanze (; wa, Wônse) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Antheit, Bas-Oha, Huccorgne, Moha, Vinalmont, and Wanze. Notable residents * Paul Delvaux ...

to Wanze,

Stage 5

;27 May 2018 —

Landen Landen () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Landen proper and the villages of Attenhoven, Eliksem, Eze ...

Tongeren Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...

Classification leadership table

In the 2018 Tour of Belgium, three different jerseys were awarded. The

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses were awarded to the first three finishers on all stages: the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively. Bonus seconds were also awarded to the first three riders at sprints in the "golden kilometre", where three intermediate sprint positions were held within the space of a kilometre. Three seconds were awarded for the winner of the sprint, two seconds for the rider in second and one second for the rider in third. The leader of the general classification received a blue jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2018 Tour of Belgium, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race. The second classification was the

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

. Riders were awarded points for finishing in the top ten in a stage. Unlike in the

points classification in the Tour de France The points classification () is a secondary competition in the Tour de France, which started in 1953. Points are given for high finishes in a stage and for winning intermediate sprints, and these are recorded in a points classification. It is con ...

, the winners of all stages were awarded the same number of points. The leader of the points classification was awarded a red jersey. There was also a combativity classification, where riders received points for finishing in the top five at intermediate sprint points during each stage, on a 10–8–6–4–2 scale. Bonus points were awarded if a breakaway had gained a sufficient advantage over the field, up to a maximum of 5 points. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists in a team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest cumulative time. })
! width="19.8%", Points classification
( nl, Puntenklassement)
! width="19.8%", Combativity classification
( nl, Strijdlustklassement)
! width="19.8%", Teams classification
( nl, Ploegenklassement)
, - , 1 ,

André Greipel André Greipel (born 16 July 1982) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2021. Since his retirement, Greipel now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team . Born in Rostock, East ...

, style="background:lightblue" rowspan=2,

, style="background:salmon;" rowspan=5,

, style="background:grey;" rowspan=3,

Aimé De Gendt Aimé De Gendt (born 17 June 1994 in Aalst) is a Belgian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . In July 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Tour de France. Major results ;2012 : 1st Time trial, National Junior Road Cham ...

, style="background:navajowhite;", , - , 2 ,

, style="background:navajowhite;", , - , 3 ,

Christophe Laporte Christophe Laporte (born 11 December 1992 in La Seyne-sur-Mer) is a French cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Laporte was a member of from 2014 to 2021. He was named in the Team Cofidis start list for the Tour de France for seven co ...

, style="background:lightblue",

, style="background:navajowhite;", , - , 4 ,

Jelle Vanendert Jelle Vanendert (born 19 February 1985) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He competed in a total of ten Grand Tours during his career. His younger brother Dennis Vanendert also competed profes ...

, style="background:lightblue" rowspan=2,

, style="background:grey;" rowspan=2,

Thomas Sprengers Thomas Sprengers (born 5 February 1990) is a Belgian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Major results ;2008 : 1st Team pursuit, National Junior Track Championships (with Tosh Van der Sande, Alphonse Vermote & Simon Verhamme) : 3rd ...

, style="background:navajowhite;" rowspan=2, , - , 5 ,

Bryan Coquard Bryan Coquard (born 25 April 1992) is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He was a silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Omnium. Career Youth and amateur career Coquard began cycling in 1999 at the age of sev ...

, - !colspan=2, Final !style="background:dodgerblue;",

!style="background:red;",

!style="background:grey;",

!style="background:orange;",

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour of Belgium, 2018

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2018 in Belgian sport 2018 UCI Europe Tour