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Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Discussion
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| Heine |
Posted on 22-10-2025 08:19
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Grand Tour Specialist

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 [HC] Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 
Welcome to Belgium for the 18th edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
First real test of the season for the cobble riders with 199,4 km of racing on the cobbled streets of eastern Flandria. I count 24 cobble section, several steep hills. We are in for a great time here!
This historical race has been won by some of the real greats of cycling. Tom Boonen (Twice), Sam Bewley (Thrice), Roger Hammond (Twice) and Joeri Stallaert (Twice) has more than one win! We also have last years winner Kasperkiewicz coming back hopeing to join the legends.
Previous winners:
Spoiler
| Year | Winner | | 2024 | Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Specialized) | | 2023 | Edward Theuns (Jura GIANTS) | | 2022 | Joeri Stallaert (Bralirwa - Stevens) | | 2021 | Joeri Stallaert (Bralirwa - Stevens) | | 2020 | Danny Summerhill (Andorra Cycling Project) | | 2019 | Sam Bewley (Moser - Sygic) | | 2018 | Sam Bewley (Moser - Sygic) | | 2017 | Kris Boeckmans (Strava) | | 2016 | Sam Bewley (Becherovka - Petrof) | | 2015 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (TeamBpost) | | 2014 | Tom Boonen (Pokerstars.com) | | 2013 | Fabian Cancellara (Simply Red Bull) | | 2012 | Stijn Joseph (Pearl Adidas) | | 2011 | Marcus Burghardt (Wikipedia) | | 2010 | Tom Boonen (Warner Brothers) | | 2009 | Roger Hammond (Procycling - BBC) | | 2008 | Roger Hammond (Letua Cycling Team) |
2024 results:
Spoiler
| 1 | Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz | Specialized | | 2 | Johan Jacobs | Team UBS | | 3 | Mekseb Debesay | JEWA TIROL | | 4 | Maxime Daniel | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | 5 | Joeri Stallaert | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | 6 | Alexandr Ovsyannikov | Tryg - Eni | | 7 | Georgios Boutopoulos | ELCO - ABEA | | 8 | Logan Owen | ISA - Hexacta | | 9 | Sameera Chatarunga | Lotto-Caloi | | 10 | Giorgi Tediashvili | DK Zalgiris |
While we have several strong riders there are only 3 riders with over 80 cobble stat present, last years winner Kasperkiewicz, the legend Wisniowski and the perennial dissapointer Zepuntke, could one of them be the big winner this year? Among the contestants Girmay might be the first rider able to beat them, his sprint might be the deciding factor on a mainly flat end to the race. Last years 4th place Daniel might have declined but is still a strong rider and riders like Gaday, Kuroeda, Polanc, Moulingui, Schreurs could just as well jump in on the fun. Last years third place Debesay looks a big weaker this year, but who know?
The 3 biggest favorites bar Wisniowski, who only has Manakov and Rickaert, seems to have a strong support team. With Ekoi - Le Creuset sending Louvel, Mestric, Roosen and Lapeira here while Specialized have Sulimov, the legend Van Keirsbulck and Kumara present. Other strong teams worth mentioning are Trans Looney Tunes with 4 riders 75 or higher cobbles and Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh with the same.
My personal favorite for this race is Girmay and he got good support from Teggart and Habimana. I believe that if he manages to neutralize attacks he will end up winning this race
Full Startlist
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 22-10-2025 09:14
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Classics Specialist

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complete RD filler for me at the end hoping Basso can sneak a 5pt finish at the bottom end of the top 30 though this really doesn't suit him at all the stamina will kick in so he will at least be finishing stronger then some it's just how many groups he can go through from what will probably be 60-80th position off the cobbles |
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 22-10-2025 09:38
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Classics Specialist

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You would have to think Zepuntke's superior stamina in addition to his cobbling abilities will do the trick here, especially with a strong support team. Excited to see how it goes even without any Ethiopian representation as it doesn't truly feel like the start of cycling season until Omloop.
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| Caspi |
Posted on 22-10-2025 09:56
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Domestique

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Other strong teams worth mentioning are (...) Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh
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| SotD |
Posted on 22-10-2025 10:38
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World Champion

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Indeed, Zepuntke will be very interesting to follow. One of the most inconsistent of all "top" cobblers. Some games are good for him, others definately not. This one could favor him indeed.
That being said I still see this as a race for one of the two Poles. Wizniowski will be very interesting to follow here for the exact same (or opposite) reasons as Zepuntke. He was my main target for the off season, but was quickly deemed unrealistic. If his STA is too low to win a race like this I suppose Altur might have a small edge in the end. As all my cobblers have between 73-75 STA I hope to be reassured that that will be sufficient to be top level.
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 22-10-2025 10:45
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Classics Specialist

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We're here hoping Giulietti can hang on long enough to score a point but know it's probably going to be filler RD's every time we hit the cobbles this season.
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 22-10-2025 10:49
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Sprinter

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Thanks for the preview, Heine! I doubt Zepuntke will happily choose "the perennial disappointer" as his nom du guerre, but we'll obviously produce some merchandise nonetheless It'll be a first indication if the new game engine in combination with some very solid helpers will finally make him work according to his stats and any hopes for more than a mid-table finish will depend on him doing really well in the cobbles. I'm really thrilled to finally see him race for us!
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| Heine |
Posted on 22-10-2025 12:54
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Grand Tour Specialist

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kandesbunzler26 wrote:
Thanks for the preview, Heine! I doubt Zepuntke will happily choose "the perennial disappointer" as his nom du guerre, but we'll obviously produce some merchandise nonetheless  It'll be a first indication if the new game engine in combination with some very solid helpers will finally make him work according to his stats and any hopes for more than a mid-table finish will depend on him doing really well in the cobbles. I'm really thrilled to finally see him race for us!
I felt I was allowed to call him that after having him for many seasons
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 22-10-2025 13:08
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Tour de France Champion

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Interested to see how this goes from an AI perspective. Kasperkiewicz looks strongest to me, but we'll see what the new engine thinks.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 22-10-2025 13:12
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Tour de France Champion

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Zepuntke is still here?
Hurts to miss this race..
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 09:35
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| quadsas |
Posted on 22-10-2025 13:57
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Small Tour Specialist

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Interesting test for Qartvelians. Startlist suggests that top 10 is certainly a possibility
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 22-10-2025 14:57
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Classics Specialist

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Kaspa has the team to go back to back. That's the goal. Thanks for the preview
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 22-10-2025 16:46
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Grand Tour Champion

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Ah it is that type of race where we would be happy if it was C2 and not for any other category. This is not C2, so not looking forward to see us finish 50th.
Will look forward to see if I should have held on to Zepuntke for five more years when he finally became a beast
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 22-10-2025 19:58
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Small Tour Specialist

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As has been discussed above, will be interesting to see how stamina will affect the favorites. Wisniowski should be negatively affected and I don’t see him as the favorite because of this, but I still think and hope he should be competitive. Hopefully the lack of support won’t become too big of an issue.
Thanks for the preview!
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| seancoll |
Posted on 23-10-2025 02:56
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Breakaway Specialist

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Think the Girmay prediction might be the right one here, with one of the Everesting duo fighting for a podium as well. Let's see how much attacking there is though and hope that it becomes a very engaging race.
Specialized looking ridiculously strong here!
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 23-10-2025 07:07
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Team Leader

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Looking forward to find out what we're worth in the cobbles this season... or not 
thanks for the preview Heine!
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 23-10-2025 11:12
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Team Leader

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Aggressiv riding from Hvideberg, we love to see it.
Congratz Lotto on a great win there in the end.
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 23-10-2025 11:28
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Sprinter

Posts: 1804
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Being dropped pre-finale - check!
Just making it back for the final sprint - check!
Beating the other two top cobblers in the sprint - check!
Being beaten by five other riders - check!
I assume that's what you also sign for when you sign Zepuntke It's actually more worrying all of his support was dropped too early and wasn't even able to get some depth scoring in the end.
Also great to see Daniel still has top results in him, making Laurens' week even better!
And thanks for the report to Abhi!
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 23-10-2025 11:37
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Classics Specialist

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Always nice to see Daniel win but absolutely diabolical race from us wtf.
Thanks for the report
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 23-10-2025 11:41
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Grand Tour Champion

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Not a great result but still points I believe and that’s what’s important in these races!
Congrats to Daniel on the win and thanks for the report!
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