Fourteen weeks after the race suspension due to the coronavirus, professional cyclists are itching to return to competition, with 400 riders having applied to enter the first Belgian men's elite road race since the closure, the Grote Prijs Vermarc Sport on July 5 ...

The apparel manufacturer plans a 167-km circuit race around its factory in Lotzeler, with 175 riders on the start line.

According to the race's website, World Tour teams Deceuninck-Quickstep and Lotto Soudal are among the 23 teams vying to compete.

"It's driving me crazy, we could start over 400 riders, but that's not allowed, It's just too much," said organizer Marc Verbeck. According to Sporza, Dutch champion Fabio Jacobsen and hour record holder Victor Kampenaerts are aiming to start.

The starting list will give preference to teams wearing Vermark clothing (Deceuninck Quickstep, Lotto Soudal, Sport Vlaanderen Baloise, Bingoal Wallonie Bruxelles, Telenet Baloise, etc.).

"At the start there will be about 90 professional riders, plus elite riders without contracts and promising riders. There are too many candidates at the moment, but for now priority is given to teams wearing Vermark Sport clothing," Felbeck said.

Felbeck has 15 slots open in the individual pros; Campenaerts, the only Belgian on the NTT Pro team, has filed one entry. Whether Mathieu van der Pol will compete is still under consideration.

While UCI rules generally do not allow World Tour riders to participate in national-level events, GP Vermarc Sport is classified as Kermes and is open to any professional rider.

Teams are scrambling to find competitions to prepare riders for the first World Tour races after COVID-19: Strade Bianche opens on August 1, Milan-San Remo on August 8, Criterium du Dauphiné (August 12-16), Il Lombardia (August 15), followed by the Tour de France on August 29.

Slovenia hosted the first European elite men's pro race since the blockade last week, with Primoz Roglic and Urska Pintal taking the elite titles.