The 2025 edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is Saturday, starting in Ghent and finishing in Ninove, Flanders.
The men’s race is 194.6 km, and the women’s race spans 135.5 km. The course is tough, to say the least. Both races have a bunch of climbs, with the men tackling 12 ascents, including the Muur-Kapelmuur and Bosberg, while the women face eight.
In 2024, Jan Tratnik took a brilliant win, outsprinting Nils Politt in a two-man sprint—his first big win as a pro. The women’s race saw heavy-hitters Lotte Kopecky, Marianne Vos, and Elisa Longo Borghini duel it out. Ultimatel it was Vos taking a beautiful win. Tratnik is on a new team for 2025, Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe, and is eager to repeat. Vos, however, will bot be there to defend.
A race with a long history
The race was founded back in 1945 by newspaper Het Volk and was known as Omloop van Vlaanderen. It was meant to be a rival race to Het Nieuwsblad’s race—the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Eventually, the latter argued that the name was too similar to their event–since Ronde and Omloop are both Flemish for circuit or loop, and it was changed to Omloop Het Volk. Funny enough, in 2009, the two newspapers merged, which explains the current name.
For 2025, the race is once again stacked. Visma – Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert will be hungry for the win, fresh off a short but successful ‘cross season. After a silver medal at the ‘cross worlds, he went right into road training mode, putting in some mega miles. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) has had a great early season with a few wins—he could spoil the Belgian’s parade.
Stacked with favourites
Other favourites for the longstanding race include Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike). Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) and Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) are also strong contenders. Canadians racing will be Guillaume Boivin and Riley Pickrell from Israel – Premier Tech, along with Pidcock’s new teammate, Nickolas Zukowsky.
In the women’s race, top favourites are definitely Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes, but Juliette Labous and Katarzyna Niewiadoma are also expected to be in the mix. Thalita de Jong and Marta Lach could also play key roles.
Several Canadians will be toeing the line in Belgium. Movistar’s Olivia Baril, the current national champion, will lead the Spanish squad. Adèle Normand of St Michel –…
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