'It's a lot more than a warm-up' – The cobbled Classics begin at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
'The legs are going to be screaming on the Bosberg, whatever happens'
With the peloton taking to the Belgian roads this weekend for the first time in 2024, the 'real' season begins with the Opening Weekend of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
The pair of races, featuring the Flandrian cobbled bergs at the former and a flatter run-in at the latter, mark the the peloton's first brush with the cobbles this season, but we're still a long way away from the denouement of the spring Classics, six weeks away at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
So, what does Opening Weekend mean exactly? These races are far from warm weather 'warm-ups' in Australia, the Middle East, and southern Europe, but this weekend isn't one that any Classics specialists are peaking for either.
"I think it's always nice. People see it as the first proper start to the season," Ineos Grenadiers rider Connor Swift told Cyclingnews at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start at 't Kuipke velodrome in Gent.
This Saturday sees the Yorkshireman make his season debut, racing Omloop for the fifth time before tackling Kuurne for the third time on Sunday. He'll be supporting Ineos contender Tom Pidcock ahead of a wider Classics campaign later this spring.
"It's good just to get into the Classics vibe and race with the other classics riders for the first proper battle. After this, everyone goes away and races Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico or does a training camp and then we clash again. So yeah, it's just a really nice tester just to see where everybody is at."
For British champion Fred Wright, the weekend will mark his fourth full tilt at the pair of Classics. He'll be contending alongside Bahrain Victorious teammate Matej Mohorič throughout the cobbles and Ardennes this spring and comes into Omloop off the back of a positive season start with a 14th place at the AlUla Tour.
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"It's a lot more than a warm-up. The legs are going to be screaming on the Bosberg, whatever happens," Wright said ahead of the race start.
"It's a good gauge of how the winter has gone, let's face it. You can't be too far behind on a day like today. I'm hoping for good legs. If you can pull off a nice result here, then it's also a confidence boost for the next races.
"I'm very excited. This is like the proper season kicking off. It is cold though – just in this shed I'm like 'Woah'. Thinking about my clothing choices, that's the main goal for the start of today and then racing at the end."
With the AlUla Tour in his legs, Wright is among a large proportion of the peloton taking to the cobbles with a good idea of his racing form at this early stage of the season. However, for a minority of the peloton rolling out in Gent, the race will mark their first road race engagement of 2024.
Swift is among them, while contenders such as Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep), and defending champion Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease A Bike) also make their season debut here.
Last year's edition saw Van Baarle and his teammate, third-placed Christophe Laporte, take the same strategy – it's not a huge hindrance to performance, then.
"It's always a tough one. I suppose you'll know after today," Swift said of riders gauging their ability heading into Omloop.
"But obviously, you've got the training camps and things and even just on the recces you've got people doing their efforts and you can gauge with your teammates there. It's always a tough one to really know, but you'll find out on the road."
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is already underway, with Swift, Wright and the rest of the 174-rider peloton making their way towards the cobbles and the hills ahead of the finish in Ninove. Find out who has the form and who is making a slow start to the 'real' season with our live coverage of the action.
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.