Belgium is warming up for the big Spring Classics ahead – and, to be honest, so are we. We are looking for the successor to Jan Tratnik, who started his road season last year with a surprise victory. His then-team, Visma | Lease a Bike, opened the finale early with Matteo Jorgenson. Eventually, the Slovenian, who is usually on domestique duty, rode away from the field when everything came back together after the last climb.
Visma | Lease a Bike’s dominance was impressive, and a similar performance can be expected from the ‘Visma Bees’. That said, the defending champion is now riding for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe.
Since 2018, the finale of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has been a carbon copy of the old Tour of Flanders. Until three years ago, only a select group survived the combination of the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg inside the last 20 kilometres. However, in 2022, a different scenario unfolded when Van Aert kicked away in the run-up to the Bosberg, while his teammate Van Baarle took an entirely different approach the following year. He attacked very early and dropped his only remaining companion, Mathis Le Berre, on the Muur van Geraardsbergen before soloing to victory.
Last year, the race panned out differently again. After a lot of movement, a regrouping took place after the Bosberg, before Jan Tratnik attacked alone with 9 kilometres to go. Nils Politt jumped onto his wheel, and they worked together — though, in reality, Politt did most of the work — before Tratnik sprinted to victory. Wout van Aert took third place by winning the peloton sprint.
There are five former winners at the start of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Michael Valgren (2018), Jasper Stuyven (2020), Davide Ballerini (2021), Wout van Aert (2022), and Jan Tratnik (2024).
Favourites 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
***** Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock
**** Alberto Bettiol, Tiesj Benoot, Jhonatan Narváez
*** Matteo Jorgenson, Arnaud De Lie, Antonio Morgado
** Jasper Philipsen, Mike Teunissen, Jasper Stuyven, Davide Ballerini
* Oliver Naesen, Matteo Trentin, Tim Wellens, Jordi Meeus, Paul Magnier
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2025: videos
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