Rotterdam, 15 June 2009 - From Tuesday 18 until Tuesday 25 August the Eneco Tour – edition 2009 – will be held. The Eneco Tour is the only stage race in the Nederlands and Belgium that is part of the UCI ProTour, for the fifth time, and as such of the UCI World Calendar as well, the highest level of international pro cycling.
As always, it will be the riders who decide the race, but the organisation has chosen a specific race concept, in which the various elements will contribute to an exciting and great Eneco Tour 2009.
This year the Eneco Tour starts in Rotterdam and after a 4-day part through Belgium, the last three days are located in the Nederlands. For the first time the Eneco Tour will start and finish on a Tuesday, an additional resting day that allows for a smoother transition to the Vuelta a España, which starts four days later.
Stages
On 17 August the 2009 Eneco Tour kicks off with a team presentation in Rotterdam. One day later the prologue time trial will be held around the Ahoy stadium in Rotterdam. For Rotterdam this is a general repeat as well for the prologue of the 2010 Tour de France, a time trial which will start and finish at the exact same location. Of the Belgian stages the overall contenders will undoubtedly have ticked the stages to Brussels and Libramont. The stage into Brussels will see the Flemish Ardennes and some Brabant bergs appear towards the end, while on Saturday the stage into Libramont will be characterised by a couple of tough climbs in a.o. Huy, Andenne, Awenne, Rochefort and St-Hubert. The subsequent day the peloton will take on Amstel Gold Race terrain in Dutch Limburg, the setting of the second queen stage of the 2009 Eneco Tour, with a finale in and around Sittard. The stages into Roermond, Ardooie and Hasselt from their part have a lot to offer to sprinters and their teams. On the ultimate day an individual time trial in Amersfoort offers an exciting conclusion of this Eneco Tour. Or put differently: each type of rider will have his opportunity!
The list of stages is as follows:
| Date |
Start |
Finish |
Description |
Length |
| Tuesday 18 August |
Rotterdam (NL) |
Rotterdam (NL) |
Prologue |
4.4 km |
| Wednesday 19 August |
Aalter (B) |
Ardooie (B) |
1st stage |
184.3 km |
| Thursday 20 August |
Ardooie (B) |
Brussel (B) |
2nd stage |
184 km |
| Friday 21 August |
Niel (B) |
Hasselt (B) |
3rd stage |
187 km |
| Saturday 22 August |
Hasselt (B) |
Libramont (B) |
4th stage |
215 km |
| Sunday 23 August |
Roermond (NL) |
Sittard (NL) |
5th stage |
204.3 km |
| Monday 24 august |
Genk (B) |
Roermond (NL) |
6th stage |
159.4 km |
| Tuesday 25 August |
Amersfoort (NL) |
Amersfoort (NL) |
7th stage |
14.3 km |
You can find a complete overview of all the stages on our website www.enecotour.com.
Striking presence of Energy company Eneco in the 2009 Eneco Tour
Eneco, the Dutch energy company with a subsidiary in Belgium, is the title sponsor of the Eneco Tour. Different start and finish locations have a special tie with Eneco: Rotterdam is the city of Eneco’s main office, Aalter (B) has an important biomass installation, Libramont (B) sees how a massive project transfers biomass into electricity and heat, whereas Genk has the biggest sustainable solar energy installation on a public building and the Nieuwland neighbourhood in Amersfoort is seen as the ultimate example of how a residential area can look like with solar power.