Sylvain Chavanel — four-time National TT Champion — will be pursuing a record fifth national championship on Thursday, June 20th .

On Friday, Tony Martin will be defending his German National TT Championship. Bert Grabsch is another OPQS rider that will participate — he is a two-time German TT Champion. Michal Golas and Michal Kwiatkowski will also participate in the Polish National TT Championship. Young Kwiatkowski has ambitions for a top result in this event.

Another OPQS rider racing on Friday is Peter Velits, who will defend his Slovak National TT Championship. Friday will also be a day for young Carlos Verona. He will race the Spanish National TT Championship.

France: Sylvain Chavanel

Slovakia: Peter Velits

Poland: Michal Golas, Michal Kwiatkowski

Germany: Tony Martin, Bert Grabsch

Spain: Carlos Verona

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Terpstra trailed only Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) at the intermediate points, and Westra went on to win the championship. Tom Dumoulin (Argos-Shimano) was 3rd.

"I'm happy with the second place," Terpstra said. "But, while it's also true that I lost for only 4 seconds, it hurts a bit. At half way I was 30'' behind. I did a great final but it wasn't enough. Lieuwe Westra is one the the best time trialists around, so congratulations to him. I have no regrets. It was for sure one of my best time trials ever. It means that I'm in good shape for Sunday. I'm confident. I'm happy, I was going for the podium and I made it. I want to also thank all the people who were with me today: Mechanics, masseurs, and friends who really supported me perfectly."

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Kenny Dehaes (Lotto-Belisol) won the stage, with Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano) placing 2nd and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) placing 3rd. 

Pieter Serry, Kevin De Weert, and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck of OPQS made a 12 rider breakaway. The gap grew to about 5'17" at its largest. However, the escape eventually reduced to just Serry and three others riders after the break continued to splinter with passing climbs and a fast tempo in the finishing circuit. Two other riders attacked with a little more than 12.4km to go, but that was also brought back with more than enough time for the possibility of a sprint finish.

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"The time trial on June 19th is in the north of Holland, and is 52km including two laps of 26 kilometers," Terpstra said. "The forecast is sunny and hot so it is going to be a really hard time trial. With the Tour de Suisse I had a good preparation, I'm in good shape. Last year I was 3rd, and I want to go for the podium again — even if the competition will be fierce. As for the road championship on June 23rd, I am the defending champion and it's the exact same parcour of last year. For me it's an advantage. It's a hard lap and we have to do it 22 or 23 times over 230km, so it's a demanding race. I've shown that I can win it alone. I will fight for it and we will see what could happen."

Terpstra added his excitement about being selected to participate in the 100th Tour de France.

"This is Tour number five for me, and I finished four times in Paris," Terpstra said. "The sprints will be important, and of course the team time trial. I think we can put out a team that can go for a win."

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"It's a nice race with good roads," Sport Director Tom Steels said. "It's going to be fast, especially the finishing circuit. Furthermore, it's the last race before the national championships, so it is good for the rhythm. The acceleration of the corners will be good to tune up the condition. It will also be good to see how the other Belgian guys are before Sunday. About our team, we have quality riders for Halle-Ingooigem and we will go for a good result. We will probably do extra training after the race, but it will be according to the individual needs of the riders."

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