Omloop het Nieuwsblad 2024: The favourites - Visma | Lease a Bike with four trump cards
Sebastian Lindner
· 23.02.2024
Omloop het Nieuwsblad 2024 - the most important facts in brief
- Date: Saturday, 24 February 2024, start 11 am, finish ~ 4 pm
- Distance202 kilometres
- Start: Ghent, Target: Ninove
- UCI category: World Tour
- History, track, TV broadcast & live stream
- To the race report of the men's race
- To the race report of the women's race
With 38 kilometres to go, Dylan van Baarle (Jumbo-Visma) had broken away with three riders in 2023, all of whom he had shaken off by the time he reached the Geraardsbergen wall. The rest was a solo ride by the Dutchman. Will the 2024 race be decided so early again? We have picked out a few candidates and do the favourites check. The more stars a rider gets, the higher they are rated.
The TOUR favourites by stars
* Alberto Bettiol, Jasper Philipsen, Oier Lazkano, Kasper Asgreen, Biniam Girmay
** Thomas Pidcock, Jasper Stuyven, Julian Alaphilippe, Dylan van Baarle
*** Tim Wellens, Christophe Laporte, Arnaud De Lie
**** Matej Mohoric, Jan Tratnik,
***** Wout van Aert
Lean year 2023 incentive for van Aert
It's been a while since Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) won an important race. If you don't count last year's E3 prize - which was also a World Tour - you have to look back to 2022. This included three stage wins at the Tour de France. And the Omloop het Nieuwsblad. With just five victories in total, 2023 went anything but according to plan for the Belgian, who was spoilt for success.
This makes his incentive to return to the road to success this season all the greater. His relatively short cyclo-cross winter is a sign that his focus is completely back on the road this year. After suffering an early puncture at the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior (1st Pro), he was able to celebrate his first win of the season at the Tour of the Algarve (2nd Pro). Not everything went perfectly in Portugal either, but the 29-year-old's will and experience should be able to compensate for this.
Laporte, van Baarle, Tratnik: Visma can draw on the full range of resources
This may not be ideal for van Aert personally, but it is for his team: Visma has three, if not four, other potential candidates for victory at the start. Last year's winner Dylan van Baarle, for example. As in 2023, he is unlikely to be the hottest ticket this year. But back then, he took his chance, attacked early on and pulled through to the end. He still has no race kilometres in his legs, which could tend to speak in favour of a similar tactic.
The same applies to Christophe Laporte. Winner of Gent-Wevelgem (1st UWT) and Quer durch Flandern (1st UWT) in 2023, he made the breakthrough and blossomed into a Classics specialist. A lack of competitive hardness and a lack of comparisons with the competition also speak in favour of an early push for the Frenchman, so that something can still be repaired in case of doubt.
Jan Tratnik could also take on this job at the Omloop. The Slovenian, it seems, is in the form of his life this spring. And in the autumn of his career. The 34-year-old, who has only ever been recognised as a helper at Visma, finished second in the Tour of Murcia (1.1), third in the Clasica Jaen and also in the Tour of the Algarve - ahead of his captains van Aert and Sepp Kuss. Tratnik is as hot as Belgian chip fat and has already announced that he is not afraid of anyone.
Wellens ready for victory, De Lie hopes for sprint
However, just like his Visma colleagues, he will have to keep at least one eye on Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious). Tratnik's compatriot has already celebrated a stage win at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro) this season and is always worth keeping an eye on on profiled terrain. Especially when great cleverness is required. Although Mohoric has not yet won on cobbles, he has also achieved various top 10 results in Flanders.
Another contender for a solo is Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates). The Belgian switched to the Pogacar team last season to lead the classics fraction. In terms of results, this only worked to a limited extent in his first year. But the 32-year-old is actually ready for a big win. His form so far has also been good. Third in the Tour of Murcia, fourth in the Clasica Jaen, fifth in the time trial of the Ruta del Sol (2.Pro). What else would have been possible in Andalusia remains unclear. Apart from the five-kilometre race against the clock, all four other stages were cancelled as there were not enough security forces available to accompany the race due to massive farmers' protests in the region.
While all those mentioned so far tend to hope for a solo decision, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) is one of those who would prefer a sprint in a large group. Last year, the young Belgian won the decision out of a large group - although soloist van Baarle had already crossed the finish line before him. De Lie has recently shown more and more often that he can also master the one or other elevation in the profile, finishing second in the Clasica de Almeria (1.Pro). If it comes to a sprint, the 21-year-old is the first contender.
Philipsen and Girmay only with outsider chances
Even ahead of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who is celebrating his season debut at the Omloop het Nieuwsblad this year. Last season's best sprinter proved that cobblestones don't worry him too much when he finished second at Paris-Roubaix (1.UWT) 2023, and just a few days earlier, when he finished fourth at Quer durch Flandern, that he can also take on the odd short, steep climb. However, it seems unlikely that this will be possible on the first day of the race.
Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) could also have a chance as an outsider. The Eritrean, winner of Gent-Wevelgem in 2022, can also handle cobbles and short climbs on a good day. He proved that his form is not entirely bad at the start of the season in Australia. Alberto Bettiol (EF Education EasyPost), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal - Quick Step) and Oier Lazkano (Movistar) will also be able to live with the role of outsider. The daring Spaniard in particular, who recently won the Clasica Jaen with a 100-kilometre breakaway attempt (and finished second in a similar fashion in last year's Trans-Flanders), has proven his form, but should no longer be underestimated and therefore kept on a short leash.
Pidcock, Stuyven and Alaphilippe with question marks
And then there's Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step). The captains of the three big teams are always to be watched out for. Pidcock can do the classics and showed decent form in the Algarve. However, it will be difficult for the very front. All-rounder Stuyven, who won the Omloop in 2020, finished in the top 10 twice in Portugal and has a good team at his side in Flanders. However, the 31-year-old veteran has been winless since Milan-San Remo 2021.
With Alaphilippe, the biggest question is probably, how he reacted to the spat with team boss Patrick Lefevere, who had massively criticised him and his partner Marion Rousse. With a lot of anger in his belly, the former world champion is capable of anything. If he reacts with resignation, he might drop out after 50 kilometres. In any case, Alaphilippe was able to demonstrate decent form at the start of the season in Australia.
