A Belgian one-day race that rewards sharp positioning and late acceleration
Circuit Franco-Belge
Circuit Franco-Belge is the kind of Belgian one-day race where the finale arrives fast and the winner often comes from outside the obvious names.
- Location
- 🇧🇪 Belgium
- When
- Second Wednesday in June
- Course
- One Day
- Most recent winner
- 🇳🇿 Corbin Strong (2026)
- Also known as
- Tour de l Eurometropole (2012-2021)
- Category
- Men’s 1.Pro
About Circuit Franco-Belge
Circuit Franco-Belge is a men's one-day bike race on the ProSeries calendar, held in Belgium each June. The route typically favors riders who can handle repeated accelerations and tight positioning battles in the closing circuits.
Also known as: Tour de l Eurometropole (2012-2021)
This is Belgian one-day racing without the monument weight or the cobbled mythology. The race usually builds through local circuits before a decisive final hour that rewards sharp positioning, late acceleration, and the ability to read a fast-moving finale. It sits in the calendar window where form is high and the field is mixed, which makes for unpredictable racing and useful viewing even if you only catch the closing stages.
Circuit Franco-Belge winners
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 🇳🇿Corbin Strong |
| 2025 | 🇳🇴Jonas Abrahamsen |
| 2024 | 🇪🇷Biniam Girmay |
| 2023 | 🇧🇪Arnaud De Lie |
| 2022 | 🇳🇴Alexander Kristoff |
| 2021 | 🇳🇱Fabio Jakobsen |
2026 results
This edition is complete.
Circuit Franco-Belge route
The course typically features multiple laps of a finishing circuit, with enough corners, short climbs, or technical sections to fragment the field without requiring pure climbing power. The winner usually emerges from a reduced group in the final 20 kilometers, either through a late attack or a small sprint. Positioning matters more than raw watts, and the race rewards riders who can stay alert through repeated accelerations and navigate tight Belgian roads under pressure. Weather can add another variable, especially if rain makes the technical sections more selective.
What shapes the race
Cross-border racing
The route crosses between Belgium and France, using the terrain along the border for a compact race that mixes flat roads with rolling hills.
Sprint-friendly finale
The race often produces a bunch sprint or small-group finish, attracting fast finishers and opportunistic puncheurs.
History
Iconic victories
Biniam Girmay
Won in 2024, adding the Circuit Franco-Belge to a season that also included a Tour de France stage win. Girmay brought genuine star power to the race.
Fabio Jakobsen
The 2021 winner used pure sprint speed to win in a year when the race still ran as the Tour de l Eurometropole.
Eras and records
A Franco-Belgian race with a long history under multiple names, consistently attracting WorldTour sprinters to its flat, fast finale.
Race evolution
Has been held under various names since 1942, most recently as the Tour de l Eurometropole (2012-2021) before reverting to Circuit Franco-Belge.
Sprint heritage
The race has consistently attracted proven sprinters, with Jakobsen, Girmay, and Kristoff all winning in recent editions.