Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 [LAST 20 KM]

February 25, 2023

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023 – Ghent – Ninove : 207,3 km

Taking place in late February, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad marks the long-awaited and much-anticipated return to the one-day racing season. Omloop is considered to be the new season’s grand opener, which is why many excitedly refer to this weekend in late February as ‘Opening Weekend’. As well as being the first European WorldTour race of the year, it’s also a great rehearsal for the upcoming cobblestone Classics as it features many of the famous hills from the Tour of Flanders. It’s here we get to see who has been training properly during the winter and who we should pay extra attention to over the next few months. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is famous for its cold weather. In both 1986 and 2004, the organisers even had to cancel the race due to heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures on the day of the race.

Dylan van Baarle marked his debut for Jumbo-Visma with an emphatic solo victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Dutchman powered clear in a group of four riders after the Wolvenberg with 38km remaining, and he then proceeded to drop his breakaway companions one by one on the remaining climbs to claim the honours in Ninove.

Like twelve months ago, the first instalment of Belgium’s Opening Weekend saw an ominous show of force from Jumbo-Visma, with Van Baarle rolling home 25 seconds clear of the impressive Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny), who won the sprint for second place from Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) after recovering from an earlier crash.

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-Samsic), who had already been a part of the day’s early break, was the last man to stay with Van Baarle, but the Frenchman’s resistance eventually wilted on the penultimate climb of the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

Van Baarle pressed on alone from there, and he still held a lead of 15 seconds at the top, despite a fierce acceleration from Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) out of the sizeable chasing group.

Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) and Laporte linked up with Wellens over the top of the Muur, but Van Baarle had the strength to fend off his pursuers over the Bosberg and on the exposed run-in to Ninove.

Laporte sacrificed himself on Van Baarle’s behalf by expertly policing the chasing group behind. The quartet was swept up by a reduced peloton in the finishing straight, but De Lie and Laporte still had the speed to outkick Davide Ballerini (Soudal-QuickStep) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X).

Although Jumbo-Visma were without 2022 winner Wout van Aert, who begins his season at Strade Bianche next week, they looked to stamp their authority on the race early and often, with new signing Jan Tratnik, Edoardo Affini and Nathan Van Hooydonck prominent in attempting to split the bunch ahead of the finale.

The decisive move took shape when Van Baarle took a flyer after the Wolvenberg, bringing Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) and Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Dstny) with him.

At one point, the quartet amassed a lead of almost a minute over the chasers, although the gap began to contact as Van Baarle started to shed himself of breakaway companions. Van Baarle dropped Milan on the Berendries and shook off Vermeersch on the Vossenhol.

Despite his earlier exertions, the 21-year-old Le Berre was able to hold on, though the Breton was no longer able to contribute any turns on the run-in to the Muur. It scarcely mattered to Van Baarle, who had the strength to press clear on the Muur and hold off the pursuers.

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