In Belgium, professional racing will resume on Sunday, July 5, when the Kermesse, supported by Vermark Sport, will be held in Lotzeler.

Teams such as Deceuninck-QuickStep, Lotto Soudal, and Alpecin-Fenix are expected to participate, but the exact lineup has yet to be confirmed.

The race will take place on a 15-km circuit around Lotzeler and will comply with Belgian coronavirus regulations.

Since July 1, spectators at sporting events have been limited to a maximum of 200 in Belgium, but Marc Verbeeck, CEO of Vermarc Sport, suggested that spectators would be allowed on the course as long as they were 1.5 meters away.

"The rules only allow 200 people, so the start zone will be closed and the finish zone will only allow a few guests," Verbeeck told Sporza.

"Along the course, we will instruct people to keep their distance. But theoretically there is space for 30 km (on both sides of the 15 km circuit - ed.), so there is space."

The last race held in Belgium before the season was interrupted by the coronavirus epidemic was the GP Jean-Pierre Moncelet on March 8, won by Fabio Jacobsen (Deceuninck-Quick Step). The first UCI event to be held in Belgium after the resumption of international competition will be Dwars door het Hageland on August 15.

According to Felbeck, the Rosselakermesse will be open to Belgian teams and riders, as well as foreign riders based in Belgium.

"Deceuninck-Quick Step, Lotto-Soudal, Alpecin-Fenix, and Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise will participate. Other Belgian teams will probably participate as well. Foreign riders living in Belgium will also be able to participate," he said, declining to give specific rider names: "However, I did not reveal the names of the specific riders.

The 15-km circuit will pass through Wesemar, home of the Vermarc company. The company supplies clothing to two Belgian WorldTour teams, Desank Quick-Step and Lotto Soudal.

"We live and breathe this sport. It's very important to us that this sport starts again," Felbeck said.

"The idea was born two weeks ago when the new rules of the sport became known in our country. We then started negotiations with the Cycling Federation and the Mayor of Rosseler. He helped us a lot and now we have agreed to hold the race on July 5."

The Belgian Classic was one of many races postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, most of which have now been rescheduled for the fall, with the Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Ghent-Wevelgem all part of the revised schedule in October.

The international calendar resumes in mid-July, but many national-level events take place in Europe before then.

Zdenek Stival (Deceuninck-Quickstep) has already participated in a local race in the Czech Republic, and Slovenia's national championship road race will be held on Sunday.

On Friday evening, Slovenian and Italian riders, including Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team), will participate in a criterium in Ljubljana.