Omloop Het Nieuwsblad opens the cobbled classics season in late February, when form is uncertain and winter racing sharpness meets Belgian weather.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is a one-day WorldTour race held in late February in Flanders, Belgium. It traditionally opens the cobbled classics calendar and serves as the first major test on the bergs and narrow roads that define the spring campaign.
Also known as: Omloop Het Volk
Tom Boonen won this race five times, more than any other rider, cementing its status as a springboard to April glory.
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This is where the cobbled classics season begins, often in cold, wet conditions that add unpredictability to early-season form. The race rewards riders who can handle positioning chaos, repeated accelerations on short climbs, and the tactical gamble of committing before fitness is certain. It is both a proving ground and a statement race, where spring ambitions either take shape or unravel.
The route loops through the hills south of Ghent, stacking short, steep climbs and cobbled sectors in the final 80 kilometers. The Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg typically appear late, though the exact sequence varies by edition. Winning usually requires surviving the attrition of repeated surges, then having enough left to either solo clear or win a reduced sprint. Positioning into the climbs matters more than raw power, and crashes or mechanicals in the narrow, technical sections can end contention quickly. Weather often plays a defining role, turning manageable gradients into elimination tests.
The first major one-day race in Europe each year. Form is uncertain, nerves are high, and the result sets the tone for the entire spring classics campaign.
The route strings together short, steep cobbled climbs across East and West Flanders. The Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg are usually the decisive obstacles.
Cobbled sectors reward power but also positioning. Losing contact on a narrow cobbled climb is often impossible to recover from later in the race.
Late February conditions in Flanders can range from frozen to wet to windy. The Omloop often rewards riders who handle cold and uncertainty best.
Most recent winner: Mathieu van der Poel (2026)
Ian Stannard used Sky teamwork and tactical intelligence to beat Greg Van Avermaet and a strong Belgian contingent, proving the race could be won with disciplined team racing.
Wout van Aert rode away from the field in wet, cold conditions, winning solo in a display of power that confirmed him as the dominant force in Flemish racing.
Mathieu van der Poel attacked on the Muur van Geraardsbergen and held off the chasers to win the Omloop, opening his spring campaign with a commanding solo victory.
Five victories in the 1970s when the race was still called Omloop Het Volk. Bruyere defined the early era of the race as a Belgian institution.
Two wins (2016, 2017) during his peak years. Van Avermaet used the Omloop as a launchpad for spring campaigns that included Olympic gold and a string of classics results.
His 2022 solo victory in terrible conditions demonstrated the kind of all-weather dominance that makes the Omloop more than a warm-up race.
The 2026 winner showed that the Omloop remains a race where the strongest rider can win alone, using the Muur to break the race apart.
The Omloop runs across Flanders on roads shared with the Ronde, but its identity comes from the timing: these cobbles are raced in February, when the body and the weather are still cold.
The steep, cobbled wall through Geraardsbergen. When it appears late in the race, it functions as the final selection point where attacks stick or the group shatters.
A shorter, less steep climb that follows the Muur. It catches riders who survived Geraardsbergen on empty legs and can reshape the front group.
An earlier climb in the race route that begins the selection process and tests positioning before the decisive finale.
The traditional finish in Ninove comes after the Muur-Bosberg sequence, with the run-in favoring a small group sprint or a solo survivor.
