The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite (25th February) is part one of a Belgian doubleheader this weekend with Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne following on Sunday (26th February). Saturday’s race will be the 72nd time the race has been run.
It is one of the season’s first elite One Day races and is a gauge of riders early season form. Historically, this race has tended to suit the ‘strong-men’ and until the last decade has been dominated by Belgian winners. Wet and windy weather can be a factor – the 2004 event was cancelled due to snow, further playing into the hands of the more powerful riders.
Winners in the last five seasons
2012 – Sep Vanmarcke – (Bel) – Garmin-Barracuda
2013 – Luca Paolini – (Ita) – Katusha
2014 – Ian Stannard – (GB) – Team Sky
2015 – Ian Stannard – (GB) – Team Sky
2016 – Greg Van Avermaet – (Bel) – BMC Racing
The course
The race is 198.3kms in length, starting and finishing in Ghent. The route includes 13 Flemish hills, a number of which are steep and nasty.
As per most races, it is likely a breakaway will form fairly early in the day. The initial 50kms of the course are the easiest and the main contenders teams will be reserving energy at this point. They know the second half of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is much tougher than the first.
The first section of climbing begins at the 54 kilometres point with the Leberg. This is quickly followed by the Berendries, Tenbosse and Eikenmolen. A flat section leads to one of the toughest climbs in the Flemish region – the Muur van Geraardsbergen. This is 1.1 kilometres of cobbled climbing with an average gradient of 8.7%. The steepest section of the Muur approaches a brutal 20% gradient. At the peak of the Muur the riders still have another 118kms to race.
The Valkenberg and Kaperij feature in the next 50kms before the riders reach the hilly part of the race. The Kruisberg is first at the 130 kms point and is followed by another 5 climbs in the next 34 kms. They start with the Taaienberg (15.8% max), Eikenberg (10% max), Wolvenberg (17.3% max), Leberg (13.8% max) and Molenberg (14.2% max). Most of the climbs are cobbled and energy sapping.
The Taaienberg is where the race will start to shake-up. Teams will want to be near the front and the pace will increase. The five climbs in this section will see a massive whittling down of the field, as in previous years. I would imagine there will be fewer than 10 riders together at the top of the Molenberg. It will be this group that will contest the win.
Main Contenders
2016 winner Greg Van Avermaet leads the BMC Racing charge again this year. In last year’s win he cleverly ambushed and then out-sprinted world number one Peter Sagan to take the win. Van Avermaet had a brilliant 2016 season culminating with Olympic Road Race gold. He tends to go well early in the season and he has the skills to repeat his 2016 success on Saturday. He can be backed as high as 7.0 so you can go EW on GVA.
Sagan has now switched teams to Bora-Hansgrohe. He too was sensational in 2016, winning his first Monument, another TdF Green Jersey and then retaining his World Championship Road Race title. Sagan has a low key set of results from his racing in January in Australia. Those races were more to help with his fitness as he builds for this year’s Spring Classics – especially the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. He will be looking to avenge his loss to Van Avermaet last year and is bookmakers favourite at 5.0.
Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac) won this race in 2012. He is a powerful rider, one that is able to get over the climbs on this course. His form in 2016 saw a 2nd in Gent-Wevelgem, 3rd in Tour of Flanders and 4th in Paris-Roubaix. He is a rider who goes close but rarely climbs to the top step of the podium. My one fear for him is that he doesn’t have the sprint to beat the two riders mentioned above. He is a decent EW selection at 15.0 however due to his consistency.
Team Sky’s Ian Stannard won the race in 2014 & 2015. He had a recent stage win in Australia on the Herald Sun Tour. In many ways he is almost a carbon copy of Vanmarcke in terms of his riding style. Stannard generally produces his best results early in the season. Part of this is because this is the only time in the year that he is not on domestique duty. Stannard can be backed as high as 21.0 which has some decent value EW.
Outsiders
A group of riders appear in this section. They include: Jens Keukeleire (ORICA-Scott), Trek – Segafredo pair Jasper Stuyven and Fabio Felline, Lars Boom & Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), Tom Boonen plus Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors), Luke Rowe (Team Sky), Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal), Sonny Colbrelli (Bajrain-Merida) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha Alpecin).
Each of these riders is capable of winning in Ghent on Saturday. Of these riders I like the chances of Kristoff, Felline, Groenewegen and Colbrelli over the others. Kristoff has returned to his 2014/15 form in the early season races. He looks to be a threat in sprint finishes once more and he is a proven strong man. Felline has ridden well in a support role for team leader Alberto Contador and has the speed to win from a small group. Groenewegen has continued his fine finish to the 2016 season and is approaching the elite sprinters in terms of closing speed. Colbrelli has been impressive too in a couple or recent sprint finishes.
They can be backed at 19.0 (Kristoff), Felline (51.0), Groenewegen (51.0) and Colbrelli (81.0) so there is huge EW appeal for all four.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Tips
PLACED – Bet on Peter Sagan to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite with a 1.5/10 stake EW (1/4 odds top 4) at 5.0 with SkyBet.
Bet on Dylan Groenewegen to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite with a 0.5/10 stake EW (1/4 odds top 4) at 41.0 with SkyBet.
Back them here:
PLACED – Bet on Fabio Felline to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite with a 0.5/10 stake EW (1/4 odds top 4) at 51.0 with Betfred.
Back Alexander Kristoff to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite with a 0.75/10 stake EW (1/4 odds top 4) at 17.0 with Betfred.
Back them here:
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