Longines Global Champions Tour back home in the Netherlands this weekend

Indeed, nine out of the top ten riders in the Tour ranking will be facing off in Valkenswaard (population: 30,336) from August 10–12 at the Olympic gold medallist’s state-of-the-art Tops International Arena, which is marking its 25th anniversary this year. And the competition in the 125m x 85m sand arena could indeed shake up the 2018 leaderboard, as 1st place in the Grand Prix brings 40 points, 2nd 37, 3rd 35, and so on. 

Current leader Ben Maher of Great Britain has 270 points after thirteen stages: Mexico City, Miami Beach, Shanghai, Madrid, Hamburg, St.Tropez, Cannes, Cascais, Estoril (Portugal), Monaco, Paris, Chantilly (France), Berlin and London. Following legs will be held in Rome and Doha, with a new competition set for December in Prague that will include a Super Grand Prix, open to winners of Grand Prix throughout the LGCT season.

Maher is among those entered in Valkenswaard (whose name is derived from the local history of falconry – ‘valk’ is Dutch for ‘falcon’), where he will be joined by compatriot Scott Brash, currently in 6th place in the standings. And host nation favourite and 2017 Tour champion Harrie Smolders of the Netherlands, Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander (Tops’ wife), Germany’s Daniel Deusser, Italy’s Alberto Zorzi and others will be hoping to make up ground on the leader (according to the rules, “The GCT overall classification is based on each athlete’s points from 50% of the total number of GCT Events held during the season, rounded up to the next number”).

Some of the other big names in Valkenswaard include Kent Farrington and Jessica Springsteen of the United States, Eric Lamaze of Canada, Leopold van Asten, Jur Vrieling and Maikel and Eric van der Vleuten of the Netherlands, Olivier Philippaerts of Belgium, Roger-Yves Bost and Simon Delestre of France, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, Henrik von Eckermann, and Peder Fredricson of Sweden, Michael Whitaker of Great Britain, Luciana Diniz of Portugal, Sergio Alvarez Moya of Spain, Pedro Veniss of Brazil, Pius Schwizer and Martin Fuchs of Switzerland, and Constant Van Paesschen and Pieter Devos of Belgium. 

And all the riders competing in the Tour this season are aiming for a spot in the inaugural Super Grand Prix at the end of the year. Those who have already qualified for that event in Prague include Smolders, Brash, Tops-Alexander, Maher, Gregory Wathelet of Belgium, Fredricson, Zorzi, Sameh El Dahan of Egypt and Nicola Philappaerts of Belgium. The competition can be watched live on GCT TV, with Saturday’s €300,000 Grand Prix also on Eurosport. For the broadcast schedule, see here.