Welcome to Ghent for the infamous Omloop Het Nieuwsblad! Last year’s top-3 is back here (Stallaert-Daniel-Blythe), whereas the numbers two and three of 2020 also join the party (Breen and Bush). Last year we saw a sprint of a small group, whereas in 2020 Summerhill dominated with a mighty solo, what will it be today?
On the first out of +- 24 cobbled sectors we see a group of 12 riders with a one minute gap over the peloton, led by the favourite’s teams. The twelve up front are Kvist, Huertas, Colbrelli, Pluto, Oka, Van Dijke, Minali, Cardona, Jiang, Tikhonin, Hollmann and Hamza. Award for first puncture of the day going to Walsleben. Just after that first cobbled sector three more ridere bridge the gap and make it fifteen up front, those are Gallopin, English and Visser.
Around halfway the race we climb the Muur van Geraardsbergen. The leading group has splintered in many pieces, as the first riders in the peloton ( Blythe, Stallaert and Breen) are at two minutes of the remaining leaders, of which we’ll have an overview soon. Still around 17 cobbled sectors to come in the final 100 km of this race.
The peloton also breaks in several pieces on the Muur, with some interesting names not immediately in the first peloton of thirty riders, such as the Kuroedas, Owen, Moulingui, Vanspeybrouck, Okbamariam, Van Lerberghe and even Bush. Meanwhile, Lecourt De Billot was able to keep with the best favourites and now decides to attack with 95 km to go!
Together with some others he manages to reach what was left on the breakaway! 16 cobbled sectors and 85 km left as we have the following ten leaders: Tikhonin, Gallopin, Oka, Ariesen, Van Asbroeck, Visser, Van Dijke, Hollmann, Lecourt De Billot and Kumara. At 45” we see Mestric, at an additional minute a peloton of 67 lead by Strava, Binance, Bralirwa, Tafjord and Lierse.
Not Mestric, but teammate Lander is able to make the jump forwards with a big move. Except for an exceptionally strong Hollmann and Oka everyone from the original break of the day is dropped, with even Lecourt De Billot dropping now. Six at the front at the moment, 70 km and 14 cobbled sectors to go. Peloton of 47 at 1’25”.
58 km left and at the end of secteur pave 13. Oka gone means Hollmann is the last survivor of the original group. Together with Ariesen, Van Asbroeck, Kumara and Lander he has 1’30” over a peloton of 45.
Immediately after is secteur pave 12, which goes uphill. At the head of the race, Lander and Hollmann are dropped by their three companions, whereas in the peloton only 24 riders survive thanks to Okbamariam’s pace! Nine riders right behind that peloton, including Owen and Tsatevich. Interesting to note is that we can find neo pro Girmay in the peloton of 24!
Secteur pave 9 is 2.8 km long and sees Ariesen and Kumara leave Van Asbroeck behind. Peloton of 22 already at 35 seconds though, with Moulingui dropped there.
38 km to go as a big domestique move from Bush ensures the leaders are caught on the steep secteur pave 7. Looks like the current leading group of 25 is about to get splintered again quickly!
The short and flat sectors 6 and 5 are right behind that one, currently 19 leaders left with 35 km! A quick overview of their names: Van Keirsbulck, Riesebeek, Bush, Kumara, Van Lerberghe, Stallaert, Gamper, Blythe, Trentin, Vanbilsen, Manamalage, Breen, Daniel, Zhupa, Owen, Shiki Kuroeda, Van der Haar, Ariesen and Van Asbrouck. At 40” we see Noppe, Thwaites, Vanspeybrouck and Saya Kuroeda.
31 km left and we’re at the end of the harder secteur 4 as Gamper attacks! Belgian champion Stallaert and the Binance duo of Blythe and Van Lerberghe (try to) react!
And the four find each other on the longer cobbled sector three! Ten riders are 30” behind with 28 km to go, those are Vanbilsen, Van der Haar, Daniel, Trentin, Zhupa, Manamalage, Kuroeda, Breen, Bush and Van Keirsbulck!
Van Lerberghe giving everything to make the gap bigger now! 25 km and only one cobbled sector left as the gap of the four leaders has grown to 45”! Six riders behind now, being Vanbilsen, Van der Haar, Trentin, Kuroeda, Daniel and Breen!
But it’s not done yet! Although cooperation at the front is decent, an amazingly strong Vanbilsen brings the gap down to 20” with 22 km left! The Belgian from Trans is going so hard he even drops Kuroeda and Breen in the process!
But the chasers might just come short! We’re onto a 2 km cobbled sector in the final 20 km now, as the difference is back to being half a minute!
Gamper sets the pace and drops the two Binance riders! Only Stallaert is able to follow and actually even create a little gap near the end of the sector! Will the Belgian champion wait for the Lierse rider, or does he want to go solo?!
Exactly 16 km left as there still is that little gap between the two leaders! At 30” we find the five chasers, where Van der Haar has been dropped after a very strong race so far.
13 km left! The two leaders working together, but Daniel and the others coming very close now! Trentin and Blythe in trouble though at the back of this group.
The HelloFresh rider is the only to reach the first two inside the final ten km, he is looking for revenge after being beaten on the line by Stallaert last year! The four chasers at only fifteen seconds!
And just before the banner of the final five km the two groups are back together! Everybody looking dead at the moment, who still has that little bit left in the tank?!
Looks like we will see a sprint of seven, as there are only two km’s left and nobody dares to make a move!
Van Lerberghe starts sprinting with one km to the finish line!
Stallaert to the front with five hundred metres left! Trentin on his left and Daniel on his wheel!
The Carlsberg rider out of juice, as it’s Stallaert versus Daniel and Vanbilsen with 200 metres to go!
And the Belgian champion wins the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the second year in a row! Just like last year Daniel has to be content with second.
And have a look at that! Gamper beats former teammate Vanbilsen on the line for third! Trentin is fifth and the Binance duo of Blythe and Van Lerberghe are sixth and seventh.
At two minutes Van der Haar finishes eighth ahead of Zhupa (9th), Breen (10th), Manamalage (11th), Bush (12th) and Shiki Kuroeda (13th).
A HelloFresh armada of Riesebeek, Van Keirsbulck and Kumara together with Owen are 14th to 17th.
Ariesen, Van Asbroeck and Saya Kuroeda complete the top-20.
