Omloop Het Nieuwsblad signals the blooms of spring and the bumps of cobbles have officially arrived, and with it a full charge into European racing on the WorldTour and Women’s WorldTour.
There’s excitement for fans and some trepidation for riders as Saturday’s events also mark the start of Opening Weekend, a back-to-back assault through Flemish hills and winds along with the 1.Pro Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne for men and Fenix Omloop van het Hageland for women on Sunday.
Rain made for more focus on the training rides Thursday across the rough cobbled sections, which have slumbered all winter and waited for the awakening of wheels on untended ruts and sprouting vegetation. However, the weather should improve by race day, with temperatures a few degrees above freezing at the start at ‘t Kuipke velodrome in Gent and the sun making an appearance at the finish in Ninove. But morning snow showers could bring slippery conditions if the sun is fickle.
Defending Omloop champion Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), 2022 Omloop winner Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) are among the favourites for the 197km men’s contest.
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Leading the way to notch the first Classics victory of the season for women are Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), who started the year with the GC win in Spain at Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana. She’s up against Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who won three stages at the UAE Tour, Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondocrypto) and the versatile Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck).
The action starts at 11:15 CET for 197km for the men, with 11 climbs and eight sections of cobbles, the final one with 15.7km to go is the feared Muur-Kapelmuur. The paved Bosberg is the final climb with 11.8km to the finish.
For the women, the green flag drops at 13:20 CET in Gent for 137.9km, with six sections of cobbles and eight major climbs. They will also face the Muur-Kapelmuur with around 15km, followed by the same 11.8km to finish once across the Bosberg.
All 18 men’s WorldTour teams will be on the line Saturday, joined by seven ProTeams. Among the WorldTour Teams making recon rides on Thursday were UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Intermarché-Wanty. ProTeams seen on the course were Lotto, Q36.5 Pro Cycling, Uno-X Mobility and Unibet Tietema Rockets.
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