It's arguably the craziest race there is, and the fourth World Cup. Namur is one of everyone's big targets for the season, and is just late enough to constitute an early Christmas present.
Map:
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This race is all about climbing and descending, acquiring such lofty heights as 59 metres as they climb up to the Citadel. One of the hardest parts is a tricky off-camber section, which is where Kevin Pauwels got away to take victory last year.
The startlist is full for the men with all the usual suspects. Lars Boom was meant to start, but unfortunately fell ill. The women's is again more sparse, with Katerina Nash, the defending champion, absent.
The standings look like this:
| 1. | Wout Van Aert | 220 |
| 2. | Sven Nys | 215 |
| 3. | Lars van der Haar | 200 |
| 4. | Kevin Pauwels | 161 |
| 5. | Laurens Sweeck |
| 1. | Eva Lechner | 110 |
| 2. | Sanne Cant | 85 |
| 3. | Kaitlin Antonneau | 65 |
| 4. | Katerina Nash | 60 |
| 5. | Amanda Miller | 57 |
Conor's Picks to Win:
In the men's, Van der Poel again just seems to be off his best with just over a month before Worlds. Wout Van Aert's least favourite series seems to be World Cups, but his brand of power and style should suit this course admirably. In the women's I foresee a fight between Wyman and Lechner, with Lechner just coming out on top.
The YouTube stream can be found at the top of this post, and Sporza aren't showing it, so you'll have to find a stream if the YouTube feed doesn't work for you.