Omloop Het Nieuwsblad tech: Men's podium bikes from the first Spring Classic of the season

Three bikes hang from a railing at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
(Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Wout van Aert, Sonny Colbrelli, Greg Van Avermaet. That was the order of the podium on the men's Omloop Het Niewusblad on Saturday. 

Another way to put it is Jumbo Visma, Bahrain Victorious, AG2R Citroën. Or you could say Cervélo, Merida, BMC. Or there's tubular, tubeless, tubeless tyres which are branded as Vittoria, Continental and Pirelli, respectively, and wrapped around Shimano, Vision and Campagnolo wheels in the same respective order. 

As much as the riders battle it out on the roads, without their equipment they'd be little more than walking, and sponsored brands truly care when one of their sponsored riders wins. We've been among brand representatives on many such occasions and they celebrate like it's their own son or daughter crossing the line first. 

Saturday's podium was headed by the pre-race favourite, Wout van Aert, who somehow snuck away at the bottom of the Bosberg before soloing the final kilometres to victory. Second place came down to a sprint from the remnants of the breakaway, and it was Colbrelli who took the decision ahead of a perhaps surprising third, Greg Van Avermaet. 

All three were aboard bikes that would be familiar to them. Colbrelli rode the Merida Reacto to victory at Paris Roubaix last year, proving that today's aero bikes can cobble just as well as anything else. Van Avermaet has ridden the BMC Teammachine SLR since the beginning of 2021, and Van Aert has been aboard Cervélo bikes for just as long, winning everything from Classics races to national titles and Tour stages to boot. 

However, what's interesting and refreshing here is that there's no dominant brand on the podium. The closest we get is Shimano, which gets the upper hand in the battle of the groupsets, though that's perhaps an unfair fight given the brand sponsors 13 of the 18 teams in the men's WorldTour peloton. Aside from this, there are three different bike brands, using three different wheelsets, tyre brands and more. 

While the top three riders were occupied with the formalities of doping control and TV interviews in the moments after the stage, we took advantage and spent some time up close with their bikes, which were still dressed in the dust picked up along the 204km between Ghent and Ninove.

3rd: Greg van Avermaet

Van Avermaet's bike is the only bike on the podium that's not technically an aero bike. The BMC TeamMachine SLR is more akin to a climber's bike, though it was given some serious aero considerations at its latest update in 2020 and has proven here it's capable of mixing it among the best. His bike is shod with Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO wheels, which in turn are wearing tubeless Pirello P Zero Race tyres

We'd be remiss to talk about Van Avermaet's bike and not to mention the paint job, which really steals the limelight. Until the Tokyo Olympics last year, Van Avermaet spent five years reaping the rewards of his Gold medal in Rio 2016. Despite this, he's not finished with gold just yet, although the latest design is considerably more subtle, with a marble effect swirling through an off-white base colour across the top tube and integrated BMC cockpit. Atop this paint sits the GVA branding, accompanied by a quote that sounds like a potential recipe for disaster: "The will must be stronger than the skill".

He is using a 12-speed groupset, which comes courtesy of Campagnolo's Super Record EPS groupset. This is fitted with a Power2Max power meter at the chainset, and at the end of the cranks are a pair of Look Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic pedals. A Fizik saddle sits atop the seatpost, which is also home to a quick release adaptor for the Belgian's bolt through wheels. 

2nd: Sonny Colbrelli

Colbrelli's bike is the Merida Reacto aero bike. Like at Colbrelli's win at Paris-Roubaix, his achievements here are yet another example of the impressive capability of aero bikes of today. The closest thing to a concession toward a smoother ride is slightly wider tyres. No number is quoted on the Continental GP5000S TR rubber, but we believe he's using 28s, which are far from unusual in a classics race nowadays. Those tyres are wrapped around Vision Metron wheels, set up tubeless. 

Colbrelli too is using a 12-speed groupset, and in an appropriate metaphor for the mixed availability of the new Dura-Ace groupset, Colbrelli's bike is fitted with shifters, derailleurs and cassette from the new 12-speed groupset, but with a chainset from the former 9100-series edition. 

Rounding off the spec is a Prologo Nago saddle, Prologo bar tape, sprint shifters, a one-piece Vision Metron cockpit, and Leggero bottle cages from Elite. However, once again, it's the paint theme that grabs the attention. This multicolour paint job fades in stripes from black to blue across the front quarter, gold stars adorn the shoulders of the headtube, Colbrelli's name is etched in gold along the top tube, while his National and European road race victories adorn the non-drive-side chainstay. 

1st: Wout van Aert

The winning bike is Cervélo's aero road bike, the S5, complete with its wild-idea cockpit that effectively doubles the bike's stem count. Unlike Colbrelli, Van Aert's bike is fitted with Shimano's latest and greatest Dura-Ace groupset in its entirety, including the R9200-P power meter chainset. The wheels are also courtesy of Shimano's latest launch, with the Shimano C50 tubular hoops being shod with Vittoria's Corsa tubular tyres. 

Fizik's Antares is Van Aert's saddle of choice, Tacx Deva carbon cages keep the Belgian's bottles on board, and a #closethegap computer mount holds the Garmin computer in place. 

Ironically, given the custom paint has been the major talking point on both other bikes, it's the lack of custom paint that is the standout feature here. Van Aert started the day on a Cervélo S5 painted in the colours of the Belgium flag in respect of his current holder of the Belgian national road race title. However, at some point during the race, he swapped and he finished the race on a bike painted in standard Jumbo Visma black and yellow. 

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Josh Croxton
Tech Editor

As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too. 


On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.