Whether you call them Classics or Semi-classics, Saturday’s two Omloop Het Nieuwsblad races are the Belgian season openers. And although the four Canadian women penciled in for the race haven’t yet been confirmed, Israel-Premier Tech released its lineup on Thursday, verifying Derek Gee and Guillaume Boivin for the first WorldTour round in Europe.
It will be Boivin’s fourth Omloop and Gee’s first.
The cobbles are calling!
Meet the team taking on @OmloopHNB this Saturday 🙌#OHN 🇧🇪 #YallaIPT pic.twitter.com/glENVoz7Dl
— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) February 22, 2024
Right now Alison Jackson, Simone Boilard and two lesser-known athletes, Laury Milette and Joséphine Péloquin of Team Komugi-Grand Est, are slated to start and hopefully their participation will be a fact come Saturday.
Cobbles, hills and cobbled hills await the riders on Saturday, the men getting eight sectors of cobbles, nine climbs and two cobbled climbs over 208 km and the women receiving most of the same fare over 132 km. Both races end with Muur van Geraardsbergen/Kapelmuur (1 km of 9.2 percent) with 16.5 km to go and the Bosberg (1 km of 5.8 percent) four kilometers later. Both courses start in Gent and finish in Ninove.
Last year the two races were showcases for the power of Jumbo-Visma, now Visma-Lease a Bike, and SD Worx, now SD Worx-Protime. Visma retained the title via Dylan van Baarle, with Christophe Laporte rounding out the podium. Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes went one-two in the women’s edition. Adam de Vos and Alison Jackson were top Canadians in the respective races.
There’s little reason to believe that these two squads aren’t going to keep the titles. The Dutch Bees bring Wout Van Aert, van Baarle, Laporte, Tiesj Benoot and new American chap Matteo Jorgenson, while SD Worx-Protime piles it on through world champion Kopecky, Wiebes, Demi Vollering and Marlen Reusser. Can the likes of Tom Pidcock, Arnaud De Lie and Jasper Stuyven prevent Visma from taking three in a row? Can Lidl-Trek counter SD Worx-Protime with Elisa Balsamo, Lizzie Deignan and Elisa Longo Borghini?
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