The cobbles season is about to be kicked off and the PTHC rated Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will be the first test for top-favorite Bewley and his challenge to win this race for the second time in his career. Summerhill as his biggest opponent, with other names like Vanspeybrouck, Senechal or Kamyshev as the next best cobblers on the startlist.

Fast finishing guys like Stallaert, Trentin or maybe even Rowe would be real threats for a possible bunch sprint - but obviously, riders like Stallaert or Trentin should be considered podium or Top-5 contenders even if we get a selective race.

Crosswinds up to 40kmh certainly won't make it easier today, where the peloton faces a total amount of 30km with pavé and the most difficult climbs featuring slopes up to 12%. It's a flat race nevertheless. Let the action begin!



The first riders to attack would also form the break of the day eventually, even though it took the peloton quite a while to finally allow the group establishing a bigger gap - with now "just" 155km to go, the peloton starts to slow down with the early escapees finally growing their advantage to over three minutes now:

Schäppi
Ngamoki-Cameron
Venturini
Skala
Gaviria
Moulingui

Gaviria apparently not relying on a possible sprint from a bigger group today.. 30kms of cobbles may be too much for someone like him, after all..



The group's lead would peak at 6'30" before the pack would start chasing about halfway through the race. RBC, Moser and Air France as the most active teams - narrowing the gap back to 4 minutes with 90km to go..

..and to 1'49" with now just 44.5km remaining:

Naud - Benoot - Van Zyl working for RBC, which is doing all the work over the last few kilometres..

..also the big names already showing themselves at the front of the pack now: Vanbilsen, Senechal, Summerhill, Bewley!



And just a few moments later, it's pretty clear, why RBC set the pace for so long:

Summerhill tries to go clear from the pack from 44.5km outside the finish!

Vanbilsen going after him quickly!



A short-lived attempt though, as Boroš pulls the two attackers back quickly. With now still 41km to go, Summerhill is back at the front of the peloton, that is down to just 51 riders with the general pace being quite high so far..

The early escapees are just a minute ahead now..



38km to the finish and Summerhill goes again!



This time, his move sticks for quite a while and is actually looking like a dangerous attempt:

Bewley certainly feels it as well and he joins Summerhill with 37km to go!

The duo with a 28 seconds gap on the peloton (36 riders) and now just half a minute behind the breakaway (that goes into pieces now)..



Moulingui as the strongest escapee, who's now leading solo by a small margin ahead of Bewley/Summerhill, as well as Venturini and Gaviria as the only other early escapees left at the front..

36 seconds behind Bewley/Summerhill, there's a further selection in the main group, with now just 23 riders left in the first group:

Senechal
Vanspeybrouck
Stallaert
Baugnies
Vanbilsen
Sulimov
Trentin
Boroš
Maes
Sibilla
Vanmarcke
Thomas
Altur
Burghardt
Gerts
Kamyshev
Lindeman
Gaudin
Lhotellerie
Zepuntke
Skala (from the early break)
Schäppi (from the early break)

Particularly Zepuntke and Kamyshev not looking good at all and they are quite far behind in this group!



Doing even worse and already dropped from this new main group:

Nolf
Bush
Van Keirsbulck (who's in a group behind Nolf/Bush)



28.5km to go and Summerhill/Bewley have caught up to the solo leader, with the next group still not too far in arrears:

Bewley
Summerhill
Moulingui



The main group went into further pieces on the next cobbles sector and indeed, Kamyshev and Zepuntke have been dropped quickly - 9 riders left in the new chasing group, that is 30 seconds behind Bewley/Summerhill:

Senechal
Vanspeybrouck
Stallaert
Baugnies
Vanbilsen
Trentin
Vanmarcke

The other two - Gaviria and Venturini - are about to get dropped, as they have nothing left to respond on the current pace from the favorites..



Maes/Boros 30 seconds behind this group, and another group with Altur/Sibilla is further 18 seconds in arrears.. a next group with Kamyshev/Burghardt/Zepuntke additional 24 seconds behind and out of contention for a notable result today!



18.5km left and it's the final sector of pavé! The situation hasn't changed too much and there's no further attacks so far:

the first chasing group works quite well together, but they are 47 seconds behind the leading trio now..

..Maes/Boros still behind them, now by 1'30" though and the group with Altur/Gerts is still about 30 seconds behind Maes..



10km to the finish and Moulingui hangs on with Summerhill/Bewley! The trio leads by a minute now..



The third group with Altur/Gerts has merged with group Zepuntke/Kamyshev now, yet they are more than four minutes behind the leading trio:





No more attacks and the leading trio kept their advantage until the final 2.5km of the day:

Summerhill ahead of Bewley and Moulingou can't follow anymore! What a huge fight he showed so far, but now's totally empty and done - but still about 47 seconds ahead of the 7-men-group with Stallaert, Vanspeybrouck, Trentin!



As soon as Summerhill launched his sprint, Bewley launched his as well.. and that ain't good news for the former..



..as Bewley easily dominates the sprint to win the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the second time after his first win in 2016! He did well to follow Summerhill's crucial second attack and with the chasing group not capable of bridging across to the leading trio, he simply waited until the sprint decision.

Summerhill with a 2nd place, that's also some kind of a victory with Bewley attending at a cobbles race.. two attacks and dominating the competition (bar Bewley) - surely a good performance in his first big race this year.



Moulingou quickly losing those 46 seconds he had on the first chasing group! He's almost crossing the line, but the group is much faster with still some energies left to show a proper sprint here:

Senechal had an early lead, but it's Trentin moving forward with some better speed now!

Vanmarcke and Vanbilsen right behind them, with Stallaert surprisingly not in the mix for a possible podium finish here! Vanspeybrouck next, but too far away either..



Moulingui lungs in for 3rd! What a tight decision eventually, but also: what a huge day for him! As soon as he got caught from Bewley/Summerhill, most people expected him to drop back just like the other early escapees did. But he didn't and he earns himself the biggest reult of his career. Stunning podium finish.

Unlucky 4th place for Trentin, who easily beats the other guys in the group though..



Vanmarcke will be pleased with a narrow Top-5 finish ahead of Senechal..

Vanbilsen a good 7th ahead of Stallaert, Vanspeybrouck and Baugnies, who completes the Top-10.. Stallaert surely must have hoped for something better in this constellation, where his group was just beaten by a superior Bewley and Summerhill (and a surprising early escapee).



Four minutes later, the next riders cross the line - with Maes/Boros almost being caught by the bigger group behind them:

Maes still sprints for 11th ahead of Sulimov!

Boroš comes next ahead of Sibilla..



Thomas easily wins the sprint from the group - finishing 15th as his team's best..



Oliveira is his team's best as 16th (Altur an underwhelming 27th eventually).. Polnicky, Gaudin, Lhotellerie and a disappointing Zepuntke complete the Top-20. Also Kamyshev (23rd), Bush (28th), Gerts (29th), Nolf (34th) or Van Keirsbulck (46th) won't be happy with their performances today.



The cobbles season kicks off with Bewley on the top of the podium...

Final Results

1	Sam Bewley	Moser - Sygic	4h50'15
2	Danny Summerhill	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
3	Clenne Morvan Moulingui	Minions	+ 46
4	Matteo Trentin	Aker - MOT	s.t.
5	Sep Vanmarcke	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
6	Florian Senechal	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
7	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
8	Joeri Stallaert	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
9	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
10	Jérome Baugnies	Kulczyk - DMTEX	s.t.
11	Nikolas Maes	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ	+ 4'33
12	Alexander Sulimov	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
13	Michael Boroš	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
14	Michel Sibilla	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
15	Geraint Thomas	Podium Ambition	s.t.
16	Nelson Oliveira	Desigual	s.t.
17	Jiri Polnicky	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
18	Damien Gaudin	Carrefour - ESPN	s.t.
19	Clément Lhotellerie	Aker - MOT	s.t.
20	Ruben Zepuntke	Minions	s.t.
21	Fernando Gaviria	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
22	Marcus Burghardt	Podium Ambition	s.t.
23	Arman Kamyshev	Air France - KLM	s.t.
24	Lukas Spengler	Team UBS	s.t.
25	Bert-Jan Lindeman	Minions	s.t.
26	Sebastian Langeveld	Kulczyk - DMTEX	s.t.
27	Marcos Altur	Desigual	s.t.
28	Robert Bush	World Cycling Center	s.t.
29	Floris Gerts	eBuddy	s.t.
30	Andzs Flaksis	Minions	s.t.
31	Ramon Sinkeldam	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
32	Mekseb Debesay	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
33	Clément Venturini	Desigual	s.t.
34	Frederik Nolf	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
35	Matvey Zubov	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
36	Yves Lampaert	eBuddy	s.t.
37	Tiesj Benoot	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
38	Sam Harrison	World Cycling Center	+ 6'06
39	Martin Schäppi	Team UBS	+ 8'40
40	Jakub Skala	Air France - KLM	s.t.
41	Amith Udaya Kumara	Ayubowan!	s.t.
42	Luke Rowe	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	+ 9'01
43	Christophe Laporte	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
44	Patrick Naud	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
45	Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev	Desigual	s.t.
46	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
47	Michael Schär	Team UBS	+ 9'19
48	Danilo Wyss	Team UBS	s.t.
49	Johann van Zyl	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
50	Jérome Giaux	Carrefour - ESPN	+ 9'54
51	Darren Matthews	Podium Ambition	s.t.
52	Tesfom Okbamariam	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ	s.t.
53	Leandro Marcos	Minions	s.t.
54	Azzeddine Lagab	Aker - MOT	s.t.
55	Kenny De Haes	Minions	s.t.
56	Salvatore Puccio	Air France - KLM	s.t.
57	Eric Young	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
58	Sameera Chatarunga	Ayubowan!	s.t.
59	Kevin Fouquet	Kulczyk - DMTEX	s.t.
60	Stijn Joseph	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
61	Niels Albert	Minions	s.t.
62	Karel Hnik	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
63	Cedric Lebris	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
64	Remco Broers	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
65	Tom Bohli	Team UBS	s.t.
66	Isaac Bolivar	World Cycling Center	s.t.
67	Fabien Taillefour	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
68	Alexey Tsatevich	Desigual	s.t.
69	Ahmad Arissol	World Cycling Center	s.t.
70	Nipuna Shira Manamalage	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
71	Philipp Walsleben	Aker - MOT	s.t.
72	Hamish Schreurs	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
73	Louis Verhelst	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
74	Martin Grashev	Podium Ambition	s.t.
75	Laurens Sweeck	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
76	Marc De Maar	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
77	Mads Pedersen	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
78	Ondrej Cink	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
79	Ricardo Van der Velde	eBuddy	s.t.
80	Carl Ngamoki-Cameron	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
81	Dadley Corwin	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
82	Sebastian Lander	Ayubowan!	+ 14'08
83	Steven Tronet	Air France - KLM	s.t.
84	Nihal Silva	Ayubowan!	s.t.
85	Janis Dakteris	Aker - MOT	s.t.
86	Alexandre Aulas	Carrefour - ESPN	s.t.
87	Timo Roosen	eBuddy	s.t.
88	Jakub Kaczmarek	Kulczyk - DMTEX	s.t.
89	Tim Ariesen	eBuddy	s.t.
90	Leonardo Basso	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
91	Niki Ostergaard	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
92	Julius van den Berg	Ayubowan!	+ 16'24
93	Michael Schwarzmann	T-Mobile	s.t.
94	Abou Sanogo	Carrefour - ESPN	s.t.
95	Johim Ariesen	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
96	Ashen Tharuka	Ayubowan!	s.t.
97	Viktor Manakov	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
98	Sonomtseren Delgerbayar	Team UBS	s.t.
99	Rasmus Tiller	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
100	Aleksey Rybalkin	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
101	Jyme Bridges	Podium Ambition	+ 18'28
102	Nic Hamilton	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
103	Lars Croket	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
104	Harry Tanfield	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
105	Kamil Gradek	Kulczyk - DMTEX	s.t.
106	Chun Kai Feng	World Cycling Center	s.t.
107	Gaëtan Pons	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
108	Jernej Svab	Desigual	s.t.
109	Kiril Yatsevich	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
110	Michael Faerk Christensen	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
111	Evgeny Russo	World Cycling Center	s.t.
112	Eliot Lietaer	Air France - KLM	s.t.
113	Raymond Kreder	Volvo acc. by Spotify	+ 20'28
114	Dylan Page	Team UBS	+ 21'14
115	Darren Young	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff	s.t.
116	Wout Van Aert	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	+ 22'58
117	Hampus Anderberg	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
118	Ilnur Zakarin	Team Tinkoff	+ 23'29
119	Erik Baska	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
120	Luis Leon Sanchez Gil	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
121	Kristof Goddaert	Kulczyk - DMTEX	s.t.
122	Steven Lammertink	eBuddy	s.t.
123	Jimmy Pranata	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ	s.t.
124	Jamalidin Novardianto	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
125	Jonathan Hivert	Air France - KLM	s.t.
126	Ian Richardson	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ	s.t.
127	Geoffrey Soupe	T-Mobile	+ 24'21
128	Andrea Enrico Maccagli	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
129	Jenthe Biermans	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	+ 25'15
130	Nolan Hoffman	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
131	Trond Hakon Trondsen	Aker - MOT	s.t.
132	Cheng Ji	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ	s.t.
DNF	Gregory Daniel	Xero Racing p/b Octagon
DNF	Abdelkader Belmokhtar	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ
DNF	Alexander Cowan	Azteca-NBCSN
DNF	Petr Rikunov	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
DNF	Salem Kemboi	Ayubowan!
DNF	Adam De Vos	Podium Ambition
DNF	Sepp Kuss	Azteca-NBCSN
DNF	Takeaki Amezawa	Aker - MOT
DNF	Chris Hamilton	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
DNF	Antwan Tolhoek	eBuddy
DNF	Adam Toupalik	Nordstrom - BioWare
DNF	Aleksa Crncevic	Carrefour - ESPN
DNF	Torkil Veyhe	T-Mobile
DNF	Jan Drago Petelin	Carrefour - ESPN
DNF	Nicolas Edet	Air France - KLM
DNF	Carter Jones	Desigual
DNF	Alan Banaszek	Carrefour - ESPN
DNF	Connor McCutcheon	T-Mobile
DNF	Sergio Barrio	Repsol - Netflix
DNF	Eddie Dunbar	Repsol - Netflix
DNF	Daniel Felipe Martinez	World Cycling Center
DNF	Mikhail Kochetkov	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
DNF	Michal Paluta	Kulczyk - DMTEX
DNF	Oleksandr Golovash	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
DNF	Xuban Errazkin	Azteca-NBCSN
DNF	Madushanka Perera	Ayubowan!
DNF	Dylan Kennett	Xero Racing p/b Octagon
DNF	Jeroen Meijers	eBuddy
DNF	Jordan Schleck	Xero Racing p/b Octagon
DNF	Maani Altanzul	T-Mobile
DNF	Ryan Anderson	Nordstrom - BioWare
DNF	Guillame Martin	Air France - KLM
DNF	Getachew Sendeku	World Cycling Center
DNF	Rüdiger Selig	T-Mobile
DNF	Sam Oomen	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
DNF	Behnam Khalilikhosroshani	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ
DNF	Laurens De Plus	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
DNF	Ben O'Connor	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
DNF	William Barta	Azteca-NBCSN
DNF	Jhonatan Casillas	Azteca-NBCSN
DNF	Odd Christian Eiking	Minions
DNF	César Vaquera	Azteca-NBCSN
DNF	Burr Ho	Aker - MOT
DNF	Alexander Vlasov	Nordstrom - BioWare
DNF	Oleksandr Polivoda	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
DNF	Gregor Muhlberger	T-Mobile
DNF	Ryan Christensen	Repsol - Netflix
DNF	Stefano Agostini	Repsol - Netflix
DNF	Jhonatan Restrepo	Carrefour - ESPN
DNF	Andriy Orlov	Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
DNF	Robin Manulang	Indosat Ooredoo - ANZ
DNF	Alexandr Braico	Team UBS
DNF	Kevin Predatsch	T-Mobile
DNF	Eryk Laton	Kulczyk - DMTEX
DNF	Manuel Stocker	Desigual
DNF	Félix Emilio Besada	Azteca-NBCSN
DNF	Miltiadis Giannoutsos	Repsol - Netflix
DNF	Kim Le Court	Podium Ambition
DNF	Kristian Vanderpool	Podium Ambition
DNF	James Piccoli	Nordstrom - BioWare