Tom Pidcock is considered one of the favourites for Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, even if he personally does not think the Flemish race suits him.
The Briton is on form and upbeat after his move from Ineos Grenadiers to Q36.5 and won two stages and the overall classification at the Saudi Tour and then won a stage at last week's Vuelta a Andalucia from a breakaway and finished third overall.
Pidcock will face Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 2024 winner Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto).
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2025 marks the 80th edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with the race again starting inside the 't Kuipke velodrome in Gent with a rock concert style team presentation before racing for 197km over 11 Flemish climbs and eight sections of cobblestone roads en route to the finish in Ninove. The final includes the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen, also known as the Kapelmuur, before the paved climb of the Bosberg, just 12km from the finish in Ninove.
With the Tour of Flanders only five weeks and Strade Bianche a week away, the season steps up massively at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Pidcock finished eighth in 2024, in the chase group just behind Tratnik and was fifth in 2023, in a similar group behind solo winner Dylan van Baarle. He is fascinated to see what he can achieve this year but is also cautious.
"Omloop Nieuwsblad is always an interesting race. It’s the first one-day race where everyone can really gauge how they came out the winter," Pidcock said when Q36.5 confirmed their final line-up.
"I’ve never been on the podium in the Omloop. If I could manage that I would be very happy because I don’t think it suits me perfectly. However, I know my shape is good and it’s important to keep building on the momentum I have created with the team.”
Supporting Pidcock in the Q36.5 roster are Rory Townsend, Jannik Steimle, Frederik Frison, Nick Zukowsky, Kamil Małecki and Fabio Christen.
Like some of the big favourites, Pidcock will not race Sunday's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne which is more suited to the sprinters. He will instead recover and rest up for a busy block of racing in Italy that includes Strade Bianche, Torino-Adriatico and MIlan-San Remo.
Q36.5 have selected sprinters Matteo Moschetti and Giacomo Nizzolo for Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, with support from Nicoló Parisini, Rory Townsend, Frederik Frison, Kamil Małecki and Jannik Steimle.
Another Q36,5 squad will race in southern France at the Faun-Ardèche Classic on Saturday and the Faun Drome Classic as the fight for vital UCI ranking points continues.
Xabier Mikel Azparren, Matteo Badilatti, Walter Calzoni, Sjoerd Bax, Marcel Camprubí, Milan Vader and Harm Vanhoucke will ride both races.
