Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Route, favourites, start list - preview of the start of the classics season
Thomas Goldmann
· 24.02.2023
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is a Belgian cycling race that, together with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne the following day, traditionally heralds the start of the classic season in professional cycling at the end of February or beginning of March: the so-called "Opening Weekend". Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is part of the UCI World Tour, the premier league of cycling, and was first held in 1945.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Big names in cycling in the list of winners
Great riders such as Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck, Freddy Maertens, Johan Museeuw, Peter van Petegem, Philippe Gilbert and, most recently, Wout van Aert have already been able to add their names to the list of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winners.
For a long time, the race was called Omloop Het Volk, named after a newspaper. After this was taken over by Het Nieuwsblad, the name of the event also changed.
The weather can go crazy
The weather is often a significant factor at the start of the Classics campaign. Wind, snow or rain - at the end of February or beginning of March, the riders have to expect adverse conditions at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The route is characterised by the many short climbs, called Hellingen, many changes of direction and small, narrow roads. Parts of the course follow the old route of the Tour of Flanders. The 207.3 kilometres between Ghent and Ninove include twelve slip roads. There are also nine cobbled sections.
The cobblestone passages at a glance
- Haaghoek, kilometre 36.2
- Lange Munte, kilometre 93.2
- Holleweg, kilometre 109.5
- Haaghoek, kilometre 115.2
- Paddestraat, kilometre 124.4
- Holleweg, kilometre 151.1
- Kerkgate, kilometre 157.3
- Jagerij, kilometre 159.9
- Haaghoek, kilometre 170.6
The Lange Munte paved section at kilometre 93.2 is celebrating its comeback and the Molenberg (kilometre 166.1) is also back after not being part of the race last year due to roadworks.
Finale with wall by Geraardsbergen & Bosberg
Things get really serious around 20 kilometres before the finish when the riders cross the Geraardsbergen wall, which has long been a feature of the Tour of Flanders but is not on the programme for 2023. Shortly afterwards, the final slip road follows with the Bosberg, before the finish in Ninove is reached 11.8 kilometres later. This year's finish is on Elisabethlaan - last year it was on Onderwijslaan.
The slip rings at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023
- Leberg, kilometre 39.2
- Kattenberg, kilometre 108.7
- Leberg, kilometre 118.3
- Hostellerie, kilometre 135.3
- Valkenberg, kilometre 143.2
- Wolvenberg, kilometre 153.7
- Molenberg, Kiolmeter 166.1
- Leberg, kilometre 173.6
- Berendries, kilometre 177.7
- Elverenberg - Vossenhol, kilometre 180.1
- Muur - Kapelmuur, kilometre 191.6
- Bosberg, kilometre 195.5
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023: TV broadcast & livestream
The men's race will be broadcast live on Eurosport 1. The women's race can be seen on Eurosport 2. It is possible to watch Omloop Het Nieuwsblad live streamed on Discovery+ and GCN+ (both via paid subscription).
- Men: 15:00-16:30 Eurosport 1
- Women: 16:30-17:45 Eurosport 2
Who are the favourites for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad?
The search is on for a successor to Wout van Aert, who won the race in 2022. The Belgian superstar will not be at the start this year. Van Aert's long-term rival Mathieu van der Poel is also not taking part. It is therefore difficult to identify a clear favourite. In principle, many scenarios are conceivable: A solo winner who breaks away at the wall of Geraardsbergen or the Bosberg, a small group that arrives together or even a sprint of a large field in Ninove.
There are some Classics specialists who are in good early form and have already proven this in the first races of the season. First and foremost, there is Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) - stage winner on the Alto do Malhao at the Tour of the Algarve - Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) - stage winner at the Ruta del Sol and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) - winner of the time trial at the Tour of the Algarve. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) also made a name for himself in the first races. The 20-year-old Belgian has won two stages of the Etoile de Besseges and the Classica Comunitat Valenciana. De Lie has already proven that he can not only sprint, but also get over short climbs well.
Numerous candidates for a sprint
Should it come down to a sprint of a larger group in Ninove, there are several candidates who could have a say in the victory: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Davide Ballerini (Soudal - Quick Step), Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe), Pascal Ackermann and Matteo Trentin (both UAE Team Emirates) as well as the old masters Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Pro Cycling) and Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies).
Despite the absence of van Aert, Jumbo-Visma will certainly play a major role. With Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Dylan van Baarle and Jan Tratnik, the Dutch team has four Classics aces at the start. However, the quartet has yet to race this season and it is therefore difficult to make a statement about their current form.
What will Soudal - Quick Step do at the home race?
The Soudal - Quick Step team is also difficult to predict. Yves Lamapert, Florian Senechal and Davide Ballerini are all capable of winning a race like Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on a good day.
Bahrain-Victorious should not be underestimated either. Matej Mohoric is already in good form, as he proved at the Ruta del Sol. In addition to the Milan-San Remo winner, the team has three men who can win a sprint from a small group: Jonathan Milan, Fred Wright and Andrea Pasqualon.
And the Germans?
From a German perspective, Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) is the one to keep an eye on. The 2019 Paris-Roubaix runner-up was already in good form at the Tour of the Algarve and will be highly motivated. Pascal Ackermann's performance will probably also depend on the team tactics of his UAE Emirates squad. Will they ride fully for Wellens or will they keep the sprint option open with Ackermann and Trentin?
Jonas Rutsch can also be expected to do a lot on a good day. The professional from EF Education EasyPost recently explained in a TOUR interview "to be in good shape, both mentally and physically".
With Marius Mayrhofer and John Degenkolb (both Team DSM) as well as Max Kanter (Movistar), there are three more strong sprinters from Germany at the start. Mayrhofer will be particularly exciting. The 22-year-old has already won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race won. The Germans Jannik Steimle (Soudal - Quick Step), Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain-Victorious), Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco-AlUla), Nico Denz, Jonas Koch and Luis-Joe Lührs (all three Bora-Hansgrohe) will also be at the start.
Start list of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023*
- 1 Tiesj Benoot
- 2 Edoardo Affini
- 3 Christophe Laporte
- 4 Jan Tratnik
- 5 Dylan van Baarle
- 6 Tim van Dijke
- 7 Nathan van Hooydock
- 11 Yves Lampaert
- 12 Davide Ballerini
- 13 Tim Declercq
- 14 Stan van Tricht
- 15 Casper Pedersen
- 16 Florian Senechal
- 17 Jannik Steimle
- 21 Sven Erik Byström
- 22 Rune Herregodts
- 23 Arne Marit
- 24 Hugo Page
- 25 Baptiste Planckaert
- 26 Mike Teunissen
- 27 Laurenz Rex
- 31 Jasper Philipsen
- 32 Dries De Bondt
- 33 Michael Gogl
- 34 Sören Kragh Andersen
- 35 Oscar Riesebeek
- 36 Robert Stannard
- 37 Gianni Vermeersch
- 41 Greg van Avermaet
- 42 Oliver Naesen
- 43 Lawrence Naesen
- 44 Stan Dewulf
- 45 Benoit Cosnefroy
- 46 Michael Schär
- 47 Damien Touze
- 51 Leonardo Basso
- 52 Luis Leon Sanchez
- 53 Manuele Boaro
- 54 Yevgeniy Gidich
- 55 Yevgeniy Fedorov
- 56 Martin Laas
- 57 Gleb Syritsa
- 61 Matej Mohoric
- 62 Filip Maciejuk
- 63 Jonathan Milan
- 64 Andrea Pasqualon
- 65 Dusan Rajovic
- 66 Jasha Sütterlin
- 67 Fred Wright
- 71 Jordi Meeus
- 72 Nico Denz
- 73 Marco Haller
- 74 Jonas Koch
- 75 Luis-Joe Lührs
- 76 Nils Politt
- 77 Ide Schelling
- 81 Axel Zingle
- 82 Andre Carvalho
- 83 Wesley Kreder
- 84 Christophe Noppe
- 85 Alexis Renard
- 86 Jelle Wallays
- 87 Piet Allegaert
- 91 Jens Keukeleire
- 92 Owain Doull
- 93 Stefan Bissegger
- 94 Jonas Rutsch
- 95 Tom Scully
- 96 James Shaw
- 97 Julius van den Berg
- 101 Stefan Küng
- 102 Lewis Askey
- 103 Kevin Geniets
- 104 Olivier Le Gac
- 105 Fabian Lienhard
- 106 Jake Stewart
- 107 Samuel Watson
- 111 Thomas Pidcock
- 112 Brandon Rivera
- 113 Michal Kwiatkowski
- 114 Luke Rowe
- 115 Magnus Sheffield
- 116 Connor Swift
- 117 Ben Turner
- 121 Imanol Erviti
- 122 Ivan Garcia Cortina
- 123 Mathias Norsgaard
- 124 Matteo Jorgenson
- 125 Max Kanter
- 126 Lluis Mas
- 127 Ivan Romeo
- 131 Jenthe Biermans
- 132 Alan Riou
- 133 Donavan Grondin
- 134 Mathis Le Berre
- 135 Matis Louvel
- 136 Daniel McLay
- 137 Clement Russo
- 141 John Degenkolb
- 142 Patrick Bevin
- 143 Pavel Bittner
- 144 Nils Eekhoff
- 145 Marius Mayrhofer
- 146 Sean Flynn
- 147 Kevin Vermaerke
- 151 Zdenek Stybar
- 152 Felix Engelhardt
- 153 Luke Durbridge
- 154 Kelland O'Brien
- 155 Alexandre Balmer
- 156 Lukas Pöstlberger
- 157 Christopher Juul-Jensen
- 161 Jasper Stuyven
- 162 Daan Hoole
- 163 Alex Kirsch
- 164 Bauke Mollema
- 165 Toms Skujins
- 166 Edward Theuns
- 167 Mathias Vacek
- 171 Tim Wellens
- 172 Pascal Ackermann
- 173 Rui Oliveira
- 174 Sjoerd Bax
- 175 Ivo Oliveira
- 176 Matteo Trentin
- 177 Michael Vink
Lotto-Dstny
- 181 Victor Campenaerts
- 182 Cedric Beullens
- 183 Jasper De Buyst
- 184 Frederik Frison
- 185 Arnaud De Lie
- 186 Brent van Moer
- 187 Florian Vermeersch
Israel-Premier Tech
- 191 Sep Vanmarcke
- 192 Guillaume Boivin
- 193 Reto Hollenstein
- 194 Krists Neilands
- 195 Jens Reynders
- 196 Guy Sagiv
- 197 Tom van Asbroeck
TotalEnergies
- 201 Peter Sagan
- 202 Edvald Boasson Hagen
- 203 Sandy Dujardin
- 204 Daniel Oss
- 205 Laurenzo Manzin
- 206 Anthony Turgis
- 207 Dries van Gestel
Bingoal WB
- 211 Louis Blouwe
- 212 Julian Mertens
- 213 Remy Mertz
- 214 Ludovic Robeet
- 215 Luca van Boven
- 216 Guillaume van Keirsbulck
- 217 Dorain De Maeght
Human Powered Health
- 221 Stephen Bassett
- 222 Pier-Andre Cote
- 223 Adam de Vos
- 224 Colin Joyce
- 225 Barnabas Peak
- 226 Benjamin Perry
- 227 Gijs van Hoecke
Team Flanders - Baloise
- 231 Sander De Pestel
- 232 Gilles De Wilde
- 233 Vincent van Hemelen
- 234 Vito Braet
- 235 Alex Colman
- 236 Ruben Apers
- 237 Ward Vanhoof
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
- 241 Alexander Kristoff
- 242 Jonas Abrahamsen
- 243 Martin Urianstad
- 244 William Blume Levy
- 245 Erik Nordsaeter Resell
- 246 Anders Skaarseth
- 247 Rasmus Tiller
*Start numbers may vary
Women's race
The 18th edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad women's race will take place in 2023. This year, the race is part of the UCI Women's World Tour for the first time. The women race on the same day as the men and finish later. A total of eight slip roads will be ridden. The combination of the Geraardsbergen and Bosberg walls is likely to be decisive for the outcome.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: The most important information
Date: Saturday, 25 February
Distance: 207.3 kilometres (men), 132.2 kilometres (women)
Start: Ghent
Target: Ninove
Edition: 78th of the men, 18th of the women
Premiere: 1945 (men), 2006 (women)
Last year's winner: Wout van Aert (Belgium), Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands)
Record winner men: Peter van Petegem (Belgium), Joseph Bruyere (Belgium), Ernest Sterckx (Belgium) - three times each
Women's record winner: Emma Johansson (Sweden), Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands), Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), Suzanne de Goede (Netherlands) - twice each
German winners: Andreas Kappes (1991)
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winners list
- 1945 Jean Bogaerts (Belgium)
- 1946 Andre Pieters (Belgium)
- 1947 Albert Sercu (Belgium)
- 1948 Sylvain Grysolle (Belgium)
- 1949 Andre Declerck (Belgium)
- 1950 Andre Declerck (Belgium)
- 1951 Jean Bogaerts (Belgium)
- 1952 Ernest Sterckx (Belgium)
- 1953 Ernest Sterckx (Belgium)
- 1954 Karel Debaere (Belgium)
- 1955 Lode Anthonis (Belgium)
- 1956 Ernest Sterckx (Belgium)
- 1957 Norbert Kerckhove (Belgium)
- 1958 Joseph Planckaert (Belgium)
- 1959 Seamus Elliott (Ireland)
- 1960 No race
- 1961 Arthur De Cabooter (Belgium)
- 1962 Robert De Middeleir (Belgium)
- 1963 Rene van Meenen (Belgium)
- 1964 Frans Melckenbeeck (Belgium)
- 1965 Noel De Pauw (Belgium)
- 1966 Jo de Roo (Netherlands)
- 1967 Willy Vekemans (Belgium)
- 1968 Herman van Springel (Belgium)
- 1969 Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium)
- 1970 Frans Verbeeck (Belgium)
- 1971 Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
- 1972 Frans Verbeeck (Belgium)
- 1973 Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
- 1974 Joseph Bruyere (Belgium)
- 1975 Joseph Bruyere (Belgium)
- 1976 Willem Peeters (Belgium)
- 1977 Freddy Maertens (Belgium)
- 1978 Freddy Maertens (Belgium)
- 1979 Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium)
- 1980 Joseph Bruyere (Belgium)
- 1981 Jan Raas (Netherlands)
- 1982 Fons De Wolf (Belgium)
- 1983 Fons De Wolf (Belgium)
- 1984 Eddy Planckaert (Belgium)
- 1985 Eddy Planckaert (Belgium)
- 1986 No race
- 1987 Teun van Vliet (Netherlands)
- 1988 Ronny van Holen (Belgium)
- 1989 Etienne De Wilde (Belgium)
- 1990 Johan Capiot (Belgium)
- 1991 Andreas Kappes (Germany)
- 1992 Johan Capiot (Belgium)
- 1993 Wilfried Nelissen (Belgium)
- 1994 Wilfried Nelissen (Belgium)
- 1995 Franco Ballerini (Italy)
- 1996 Tom Steels (Belgium)
- 1997 Peter van Petegem (Belgium)
- 1998 Peter van Petegem (Belgium)
- 1999 Franck Vandenbroucke (Belgium)
- 2000 Johan Museeuw (Belgium)
- 2001 Michele Bartoli (Italy)
- 2002 Peter van Petegem (Belgium)
- 2003 Johan Museeuw (Belgium)
- 2004 No race
- 2005 Nick Nuyens (Belgium)
- 2006 Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
- 2007 Filippo Pozzato (Italy)
- 2008 Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
- 2009 Thor Hushovd (Norway)
- 2010 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain)
- 2011 Sebastian Langeveld (Netherlands)
- 2012 Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium)
- 2013 Luca Paolini (Italy)
- 2014 Ian Stannard (Great Britain)
- 2015 Ian Stannard (Great Britain)
- 2016 Greg van Avermaet (Belgium)
- 2017 Greg van Avermaet (Belgium)
- 2018 Michael Valgren (Denmark)
- 2019 Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)
- 2020 Jasper Stuyven (Belgium)
- 2021 Davide Ballerini (Italy)
- 2022 Wout van Aert (Belgium)
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winners list
- 2006 Suzanne de Goede (Netherlands)
- 2007 Mie Lacota (Denmark)
- 2008 Kirsten Wild (Netherlands)
- 2009 Suzanne de Goede (Netherlands)
- 2010 Emma Johansson (Sweden)
- 2011 Emma Johansson (Sweden)
- 2012 Loes Gunnewijk (Netherlands)
- 2013 Tiffany Cromwell (Australia)
- 2014 Amy Pieters (Netherlands)
- 2015 Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands)
- 2016 Elizabeth Deignan (Great Britain)
- 2017 Lucinda Brand (Netherlands)
- 2018 Christina Siggaard (Denmark)
- 2019 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Netherlands)
- 2020 Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands)
- 2021 Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands)
- 2022 Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands)
