The famous combination of the Muur and Bosberg climbs east of Geraardsbergen have seen the crowning of countless champions in Flanders through the years, historically in the Tour of Flanders, and in the past five years at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, too.
Jumbo-Visma superstar Wout van Aert became the latest to write his name in the history of the Flandrian one-two punch on Saturday afternoon, soloing to victory at the first race of the Opening Weekend double to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the first time.
The victory — the 31st of his road career and first of 2022 on his season debut — was far from a lone show of power, however. Instead, it was the collective strength of a newly beefed-up Jumbo-Visma squad which helped Van Aert take the glory on the Centrumlaan in Ninove.
Speaking after the finish, the conclusion of nearly five hours of action across the bergs and cobbles of Flanders, Van Aert hailed the work of his teammates, which for the first time included new additions Tiesj Benoot and Tosh van der Sande.
"We managed to keep control of the race for a long time," he said. "A lot of energy goes into that — to always be in prime position with a lot of guys. Then, having someone like Tiesj [Benoot] in the lead group in the final is a serious luxury.
"It's nice work from the guys, and of course it's twice as nice to make it right. I think today has given me — and the boys — a lot of confidence."
The thought of a Wout van Aert with confidence boosted further than the level which saw him hold off a chase group single-handedly for 13 kilometres is something that will likely only worry his competitors heading into the rest of the spring season.
But after the display put on by him and his teammates on Sunday, they now know they have more to worry about than Van Aert, who in the past has relied on lesser support through the Classics. At one point in the finale it looked as though Benoot could have soloed to the win, having attacked ahead of the Muur and led the way over the top.
"I suddenly had a gap on the Muur," said Benoot. "Wout was in the lead group behind me and that was a good situation for us. Before the Bosberg they closed the gap, and I was too lax. I should have been in that group."
The 27-year-old was caught by Van Aert and a select group soon after though, with a handful of kilometres left before his team leader launched what was the winning move. Benoot's final placing of 67th tells onlookers nothing about the job he did over the preceding 204 kilometres.
"Tiesj and I forced the pace on the Berendries and rode well on the offensive," Van Aert said. "Then, it was important to attack to keep control otherwise the chasers would come back.
"My attack was purely meant to get a few metres ahead of the rest before the Bosberg. The plan was to ride all the way to the top and then see what I would do. When I noticed I was alone, I had to keep going."
"What Wout did was particularly clever," added Benoot. "He could have waited for the sprint. Victor Campenaerts wanted to break away, so he saw that and then he attacked. Everybody in the group behind was on the limit and you could see that. Nobody could close the gap."
As he did between 2018 and 2020, Van Aert won't take part in the second half of the Opening Weekend, Sunday's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. Instead, it's a week off racing before taking on Paris-Nice with a portion Jumbo-Visma's stage racing squad, with Primož Roglič, Steven Kruijswijk and Rohan Dennis also along for the ride.
He'll back at the Classics before long, though, starting with Milan-San Remo and then switching back to the cobbled through the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The latter is still just under two months away, and Van Aert said that he hopes to keep improving throughout the spring on the way to his major goals.
"I didn't think beforehand that it would go so well, but I was well prepared. [The win] is a nice bonus," he said of his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. "It's hard to say if I can stretch this form until Paris-Roubaix. Purely in terms of race intensity, there will be some more steps. I was good, but Flanders and Roubaix are even more important, so I hope I will improve a bit more.
"In Paris-Nice I hope to make that last step. Primož [Roglič] is in good shape and wants to go for the victory there. I want to help him with that."
