2022 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad men - Preview

"These days it's never too early to take a win," Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) told us last week, hinting at the seriousness with which the early-season is treated in the modern era. 

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad may have lost some of its status as the purists' true start to the European cycling season but still it retains a sense of gravitas and a great deal of anticipation. After six weeks of warm-weather early-season races, things get much more serious on the roads of Flanders at the weekend.

Followed on the calendar by Strade Bianche, Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, and the main Spring Classics period, it's that time of the year when the some of the world's biggest races begin to stack up thick and fast. 

More than anything else, perhaps, it quenches the thirst for the drama, chaos, and sheer excitement that racing on the cobbles and hills of Flanders never fails to provide. The Omloop is an appetite-whetter and tone-setter for the Flandrien fare of the main spring period. It is also a massive day in its own right.

The 77th edition of the race will follow a familiar format, twisting through the hills and cobbles of the Flemish Ardennes and taking on the famous Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg combination in the finale. 

With Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock, Sonny Colbrelli and Kasper Asgreen in attendance, top-class Classics talent will roll into Gent's Kuipke velodrome for the pre-race presentation in one of the most iconic settings in Belgian cycling. 

The route

There are only minor changes to the route compared to the 2021 race and indeed to the past few editions, and they are enforced changes rather than any drive to alter the complexion of the race. 

The last time that happened was in 2018, in what was a major revamp. Previously finishing as well as starting at the Citadel Park in Gent that houses the Kuipke velodrome, the finish was moved to Ninove to recreate the old Tour of Flanders finale. 

Flanders itself had moved its finish to Oudenaarde, making the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg the heart of its finale, but the old combination of the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg was sorely missed, and that's where the Omloop stepped in.

The steep, snaking, cobbled climb up to the chapel in Geraardsbergen is a holy place in Flemish cycling and it's followed a few kilometres down the road by the less severe but longer – and still cobbled – Bosberg. From there, it's a 12km run-in to the finish line. 

The 2022 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad contains 13 climbs in total, in line with previous editions, although the number of cobbled sections is down slightly to nine. 

The biggest change in the parcours is the absence of the Molenberg, which was a key part of the intensification process in the last 50 or so kilometres. That phase of the race has arguably just got harder, as the Molenberg is substituted by not one but two climbs: Marlboroughstraat and Biesestraat. 

From there, the race heads straight for the Haghoek cobblestone sector, which is paired with the Leberg climb. It will be familiar terrain and the third helping of Haghoek-Leberg, which kicks off the difficulties 45km into the race and – after a trip up the Kattenberg – appears again after 110km. 

The Hostellerie, Valkenberg, and Wolvenberg take the riders into the final 50km, and if it hasn't hotted up by then, it will do on Marlboroughstraat and Biesestraat and Haghoek-Leberg. The selections will continue to form on the Berendries and Elverenberg, which tops out with 28km to go. 

From there, there's a 10km stretch to the Muur, which averages almost 10 per cent in gradient, and then onto the kilometre-long Bosberg. There are still 12 flat kilometres to the finish in Ninove, setting up a potentially tactical finale. 

The contenders

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is traditionally contested by the hardy Classics riders who will fight it out at the Tour of Flanders in April. In that respect, last year's edition was something of an anomaly, ending in a bunch sprint. 

The race has arguably been tamed slightly by headwinds since the move to the old Flanders course, but it's worth noting the long-range hostilities of Pidcock and Julian Alaphilippe last year before the bunch unusually reformed after the Bosberg for a big group sprint on the narrow finishing straight. 

It would be extraordinary – and no doubt somewhat concerning for the race organisers – if that same lightning struck twice. Instead, the likes of Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) should be slugging it out in small groups and either settling it in a select sprint or perhaps trying to sneak off and solo into Ninove. 

Van Aert starts his season here and is the biggest name on the start list. He has established himself as a winner of a huge variety of races and, having cut short his cyclo-cross campaign to focus on the spring, he hopes this is the year he establishes Classics dominance. Van Aert will be supported by a new-look and much stronger Jumbo-Visma squad that includes new signings Tiesj Benoot and Christophe Laporte. 

Of course, it's hard not to mention Van Aert in the same breath as his great rival, Mathieu van der Poel, but the Dutchman is the major absentee from the Omloop as he continues his recovery from a back injury and races to get fit for the main spring run.

If Van Aert is the standout individual, it's QuickStep-AlphaVinyl who once again possess the standout collective. Alaphilippe is not doing the cobbles this year, but they still have the reigning Tour of Flanders champion in Kasper Asgreen, former winner Zdenek Stybar, former runner-up Yves Lampaert, and the rising Florian Sénéchal. 

They'll be most concerned about Van Aert and Pidcock, who was so eye-catching here on his Classics debut last year before going on to win Brabantse Pijl. 

They'll also be watching everything Jasper Stuyven does, with the 2020 winner taking sole leadership of Trek-Segafredo in the absence of Mads Pedersen. Likewise for Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious), who's going all-in for the cobbled Classics after his stunning Paris-Roubaix victory last autumn. 

Two-time winner Greg Van Avermaet links up with old pal Oliver Naesen for AG2R, while Lotto Soudal have options ranging from Philippe Gilbert and Tim Wellens to Florian Vermeersch and Victor Campenaerts, who has transformed himself into a Classics rider.

Peter Sagan makes his first one-day appearance for TotalEnergies as he tries to return to Classics prominence, while more former winners in Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech) and Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost) add depth to the start list. The likes of Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM) will be looking to start their spring campaigns on a good note. 

Jake Stewart scored a breakthrough second place last year in the sprint but Groupama-FDJ's Stefan Küng might be their best shout, with the Swiss making one-day improvements last year and showing flying form at last week's Volta ao Agarve.

The weather

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has often been blasted by heavy wintery conditions, but the forecasts look clement for Saturday. 

Temperatures of just under 10°C are predicted, along with dry and bright skies. The wind is expected to be very light and so shouldn't have an impact on the race.