The first World Tour race of the 2025 season on European soil ends with a surprise victory. While superstars such as Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen and Tom Pidcock also raced for victory at Omloop Nieuwsblad 2025, a Norwegian outdid them: Sören Waerenskjold had the freshest legs after 197 kilometres and came out on top in the bunch sprint ahead of Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin - Deceuninck).

Waerenskjold can parry Philipsen's attack

Küng's attack at Omloop Nieuwsblad goes unrewarded

With 10 kilometres to go, a large group at the front of the race still had a chance of winning the day. Then it was Stefan Küng (Groupama - FDJ) who took heart and set off as a soloist towards the finish. The Swiss rider's courage was almost rewarded, he was about 1000 metres short of the finish line before he was swallowed up by the chasing peloton.

This was followed by a bunch sprint, which was opened by Samuel Watson (INEOS Grenadiers). Waerenskjold then attacked and passed the INEOS rider. Alongside the Norwegian, top sprinter Jasper Philipsen also launched his attack, but was unable to dislodge the 24-year-old from the lead. Waerenskjold ended up half a bike length ahead and can therefore celebrate the biggest success of his career to date.

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How Omloop Nieuwsblad 2025 went

Shortly after the start of the 197-kilometre race between Ghent and Ninove, the race caught fire. In dry conditions, there were immediate attacks from riders who wanted to get into the leading group of the day. It didn't take long for a breakaway group to emerge. Seven riders made their escape. Among them were Julius van den Berg, Enzo Leijnse (both Team Picnic PostNL), Elmar Reinders (Team Jayco AlUla) and Giosue Epis (Arkea - B&B Hotels). The peloton was satisfied with the composition of the breakaway and let them go. There was a maximum lead of 7:40 minutes on the peloton before the advantage began to melt away around 110 kilometres before the finish.

Meanwhile, things were quiet in the peloton, with Team Visma | Lease a Bike, among others, managing the pace of the peloton. Apart from a few mechanical problems for Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) and others or minor crashes such as Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), the race situation was stable for a long time.

Race picks up speed

With 54 kilometres to go, three riders led by Tim van Dijke (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) attacked from the peloton on a cobbled section and briefly broke away. However, the trio was soon caught again. It was then Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) who opened up a gap and tried to catch up with the leaders. However, he was caught between the leading group and the peloton for a long time and ultimately failed to catch up with the leaders.

Alpecin - Deceuninck gets serious on the Molenberg

As a result, the peloton became more and more dynamic. On the Molenberg, 43 kilometres from the finish, the Alpecin-Deceuninck team stepped on the accelerator and split the peloton into several groups. Around 30 riders broke away in the peloton, including Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deuninck), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike). Meanwhile, top riders such as Jan Tratnik (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) missed out on the pace increase, finishing around 20 seconds behind the first part of the peloton.

Van Aert and Co catch up with the front runners

With 30 kilometres to go, the first group of the peloton around Jasper Philipsen managed to catch up with the leading group. The chasing group around van Aert was still investing a lot to get to the front themselves. They managed to do just that a few kilometres later. Van Aert, Tratnik, Politt and co were now also in a large group at the front of the race.

At the wall of Geraardsbergen, the race finally took off. Toms Skujins (Lidl - Trek) and Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in particular stepped up the pace and ensured that the front was extremely thinned out. Among others, De Lie and Tratnik, who missed the post breakaway due to a defect, were no longer to be found at the front. However, it was not the case that one rider went into full gear on the climb and was able to pull away decisively.

Waerenskjold wins Omloop Nieuwsblad 2025

While the riders in front then kept looking at each other and managed the pace, Stefan Küng started 10 kilometres before the finish and opened up a gap of over 20 seconds. The Swiss rider was only caught by his pursuers in the final kilometre. Waerenskjold then celebrated victory in the bunch sprint at the Omloop Nieuwsblad 2025 classic.