2022 Belgian Road Race Predictions: Van Aert, Merlier, and Evenepoel Are All In the Fight for the National Title

The 2022 Belgian National Road Race Championship is held this Sunday, the 26th of June. Belgium is one of the strongest cycling nations so fans can see some of the best representatives of the sport. Wout Van Aert is the defending champion and one of the favorites in the 2022 Belgian Road Race predictions. But we can find several other great cyclists in the field from Jasper Philipsen to Remco Evenepoel.

Belgian cycling has belonged to the best since the beginning. We only have to think of 11-time Grand Tour winner Eddie Merckx or the winner of all five Monuments, Rik Van Looy. But we can also find great Belgian riders in more recent times. From Tom Boonen to Philippe Gilbert with both of them winning the national road race championship twice.

Members of the latest generation include multi-talent Wout Van Aert who won the race last year. He will try to defend his title this year in the 208km long race. Just like he did in the Belgian National Cyclo-cross Championship at the beginning of the year. But he will face an even tougher challenge here due to the super-strong field. 

2022 Belgian Road Race Predictions Mention Philipsen ahead of Van Aert

Jasper Philipsen won the green jersey, so the points classification at both this year’s UAE Tour and Tour of Turkey. The 24-year-old rider also won a stage in the 2022 Tour of Belgium and finished 8th in the overall standings. Philipsen also got three stage wins from the last two Vuelta a Espana besides three one-day race victories. Last week the Alpecin-Fenix rider competed in the Baloise Belgium Tour and finished second overall. Now online sportsbooks in Belgium mention him as the biggest favorite to win this year’s Belgian National Road Race Championship. And offer the odds of 3.50 for his victory. 

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The defending champion, Wout Van Aert follows him in the 2022 Belgian Road Race predictions with the odds of 4.50. The Jumbo-Visma rider won the points classification on this year’s Criterium du Dauphine and Paris-Nice. And he finished first on two one-day classics, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Bank Classic.

Van Aert is a very versatile cyclist as he is also among the best cyclo-cross riders. Now his focus will be on the road though and the upcoming 2022 Tour de France where he will also aim for the green jersey. A victory this weekend can be a great sign ahead of his next Grand Tour campaign. 

Former Podium Finishers Can Also Fight For The Title

Tim Merlier won the Belgian National Road Race Championship in 2019 when he managed to defeat even Van Aert. The 29-year-old cyclist got two race wins this season from the 2022 Classic Brugge – De Panne and Nokere Koerse. Merlier also won a stage in this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico. But he couldn’t keep the pace last week in the Tour of Slovenia.

He won’t ride in the Alpecin-Fenix team in this year’s Tour de France but he can prove his skills in this event. Online gambling sites in Belgium offer the odds of 7.00 for his second national title. Remco Evenepoel had a tough last week as well after struggling in the Tour de Suisse. The young Quick-Step rider still managed to win the last stage, the individual time trial. And he finished sixth in the points classification. 

Evenepoel also won the 2022 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour of Norway, and the Volta ao Algarve. He finished third in the national championship last year. Now he has the odds of 15.00 to win it. Jasper Stuyven finished on the podium twice before, in 2017 and 2018.

This season the Trek-Segafredo rider’s best result has been a fourth-place finish in the Gent-Wevelgem classic. His odds to become the Belgian champion in 2022 are 21.00. While the winner of the 2018 race, Yves Lampaert can try to get his second title. Evenepoel’s teammate at Quick-Step finished 10th in this year’s Paris-Roubaix. While he also won the individual time trial stage at the 2022 Tour of Belgium. His odds of winning the road race this Sunday are 29.00 on 22Bet. 

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