Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Women - Live Coverage

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Women!

The women's field is lining up at the start in Ghent. They will be given the green light to begin their race in 10 minutes.

It's a beautiful afternoon in Ghent, if not a little cold at 8C, but the sub is shining.

The women's field will be tackling five cobble sectors and nine short climbs today.

Cobbled sectors

Huidepontweg, 56km
Holleweg, 71km
Kerkgate, 77km
Jagerij, 80km
Haaghoek, 91km

Climbs

Edelareberg, 69km
Wolvenberg, 74km
Marlboroughstraat, 89km
Biesetraat, 90km
Leberg, 94km
Berendries, 98km
Elverenberg-Vossenhol, 100km
Muur-Kapelmuur, 112km
Bosberg, km. 116km

After a delayed start, due to some mechanicals in the peloton, the race is now underway.

Although it is not officially in the Women’s World Tour race, Omloop Het Niewsblad is an honorary member due to its function as the curtain-raiser to the Spring Classics, and the rest of the season. Even without defending champion Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx), who retired at the end of last season, there are many riders on the start line capable of winning today, like Lotte Kopecky, Elisa Balsamo and Emma Norsgaard Bjerg. Here are our riders to watch.

The first half of the race is largely flat but once the peloton hits the Edelareberg, 69km into the race, the climbs come thick and fast, interspersed with cobble sectors. Such a jagged profile, combined with the relatively short distance, lends itself to aggressive racing, so expect to see plenty of attacks.

For the meantime, though, the peloton remains together in the opening 20 kilometres of the race.

In preparation for the latter stages of the race, Lorena Wiebes fixed a list of the cobbles and climbs to the stem of her bike before starting.

97km to go:

A breakaway has now escaped from the peloton:

Emily Newsom (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) and Svenja Betz (IBCT) are currently 37 seconds ahead of the main field.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is one of those races that can be won in many different ways. The last three editions ended in a solo victory, but in 2018 a sprint finish decided the winner. Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team) finished third that year and said during the team presentation, “I hope it will be a good day and looking forward to the Opening Weekend. It was a special edition, (in 2018) there aren’t many years that finish in a bunch sprint. The last few editions have finished with a solo victory. We will see how it is going today but I think it will be a good day on the bike.”

The two riders in the breakaway are at opposite ends of their career. 

Newsom is an experienced gravel racer and powerful time triallist, while Betz is in her first year with IBCT, joining from Team Rupelcleaning-Champion Lubricants at the end of last season. 

With the race about 30 kilometres away from the first climb, they remain out in front.

Although she is not in the peloton today, defending champion Anna van der Breggen is at the race as a sports director for SD Worx. She is overseeing a team containing many of the day’s favourites including Lotte Kopecky, and Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, who won in 2019.

88km to go: 

Newsom's lead over the peloton has reached 3:47, while a chase group of five riders have formed in between her and the main field.

Flanders Classics CEO Tomas Van Den Spiegel confirmed to Cyclingnews that the UCI denied Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Women a spot on the Women’s WorldTour calendar in 2022. 

Van Den Spiegel said he understood the UCI's decision to deny the race a spot on the top-tier calendar as it continues to shape the structure of women's cycling. 

Flanders Classics intends to submit new applications for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Dwars door Vlaanderen to join the Women's WorldTour in 2023, while aiming to add a seventh race to its current range of six women’s events.

"We requested Omoop Het Nieuwsblad to become WorldTour this year, but I understand that the UCI asked us to be patient because women's cycling is still shaping itself," Van Den Spiegel told Cyclingnews in a phone interview on Friday, the eve of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Read the full story here

The five chasers have bridged across to Newsom creating a breakaway of six. They have built a lead of about four minutes back to the peloton.

The race is now approaching the Hulsepontweg, the first cobbled section of the day which spans 1800m.

The five riders who bridged across to Newsom have been named as Kylie Waterreus (Lotto Soudal Ladies), Fien Delbaere (Multum Accountants Ladies Cycling Team), Laura Tomasi (UAE Team ADQ) and Anastasia Carbonari (Valcar-Travel & Service), as well as Betz who has rejoined the head of the race.

-73km

After the first cobbled section, the breakaway's lead has dropped slightly to 3'18". The race is now turning towards the town of Oudenaarde which marks the entrance to the Edelareberg, the day's first climb. 

-68km

Live television pictures will begin shortly, coinciding with the peloton entering the most difficult part of the course.

Meanwhile, in the men's race, Wout van Aert soloed to an impressive victory ahead of Sonny Colbrelli and Oliver Naesen. You can read our race report here.

Over the first four climbs of the day, the breakaway's lead crumbled and they have been reabsorbed back into the peloton.

-37

The van Dijk-led peloton has just negotiated the last and longest section of cobbles, and immediately begins to ascend the Leberg.

On the lower slopes of the Leberg Marlen Reusser accelerates, pulling a four-person group away comprised of Reusser, Liane Lippert, Anna Henderson, and Ellen van Dijk.

Meanwhile, at the back of the peloton, Sarah Roy and Emma Langley touch wheels and go down though they both get to their feet soon afterwards.

The dangerous group of Lippert, Henderson, van Dijk and Reusser seem to be extending their lead on the flat section of the course before the Berendries climb. Behind them, UAE Team ADQ and Team DSM are beginning to organise a chase.

-31km

Thirty seconds now separates the newly formed breakaway and the main field.

-30km

-29km

An attack comes from a UAE Team ADQ rider as she tries to bridge up to the leading quartet on the Elverenberg, though Trek-Segafredo and Team DSM move quickly to block the road and prevent any further attacks

-27km

On the narrow roads, a crash in the middle of the peloton disrupts its rhythm, but no riders seem to be injured. 

-26km

There is another crash in the peloton and Ilaria Sanguineti falls onto the cobbles but is up and riding again.

-23km

At the head of the race, the breakaway's lead has stretched to just over a minute. Various teams including Movistar and Canyon-SRAM are sharing responsibilities for the chase.

-22km

The final two climbs, which both feature cobbled sections and are likely to be decisive, are the next big obstacle, arriving in six kilometres. 

-20km

Movistar are beginning to gather at the front of the peloton, protecting Emma Norsgaard Bjerg and Annemiek van Vleuten. The breakaway remain 56 seconds ahead of the main field.

-18km

For the first time, the breakaway's lead is beginning to fall due to the unity of the peloton's chase. With the formidable Muur-Kapelmuur just two kilometres away, their lead is now 40 seconds.

-17km

Reusser leads the breakaway onto the Muur-Kapelmuur, a 475m climb with a maximum gradient of 19.8%. The cars have been ordered out of the gap between the two groups which stands now at 30 seconds

-17km

At the front of the peloton, the favourites are beginning gather on the climb to avoid any gaps that may appear on the steep gradients. In the breakaway, Henderson loses contact with the front of the race.

-16km

On the steepest gradients of the climb, gaps are indeed appearing in the peloton. Van Vleuten and Vollering prove to be the strongest climbers, bridging across to Henderson, with Kopecky soon behind them.

-14km

With Reusser, van Dijk and Lippert still up the road, Van Vleuten ploughs forward. Vollering sits on her wheel, waiting for Kopecky to bridge across.

-13km

The leading trio become a leading sextet as Vollering, Henderson and van Vleuten join the front of the race. They have a small ten second gap over the lone chaser, Kopecky.

-13km

The leading group appear to have slowed, and Kopecky joins them, while a small group containing Grace Brown, Elisa Longo Borghini and Kasia Niewiadoma is a few seconds behind them.

-12km

Van Vleuten attacks as soon as the road slopes skywards on the Bosberg. Her acceleration splinters the front group; only Vollering can cling to her back wheel.

-10km

Kopecky, Reusser, Lippert, Henderson and van Dijk now form a chase group, ten seconds behind the leading pair of Vollering and van Vleuten. There are no more climbs or cobbled sections on the run in to the finish.

-10km

Reinforcements arrive in the chase group in the shape of Brown, Borghini and Niewiadoma. Nonetheless, van Vleuten and Vollering's lead continues to stretch out to 24 seconds.

-8km

Vollering still sits on van Vleuten's wheel as the race winds towards Ninove and the light begins to fade. Their gap looks to be nearly unassailable now at 45 seconds.

-6km

Van Vleuten's face is impassive, while behind her Vollering grimaces, fighting to stay on her compatriot's wheel. The chase group is still not making any inroads into their advantage which is now fifty seconds for the Dutch pair.

-3km

Attacks are beginning to be launched from the chase group, with Brown the first to accelerate. Vollering and van Vleuten still look secure ahead with a 56 seconds advantage.

-2km

As the race enters the last three kilometres, it seems as if the chase group have accepted that they will be fighting for the podium rather than the win. They are spread out across the full width of the road, watching and marking each other.

-1.5km

Van Vleuten slows down, shaking her head at Vollering's refusal to share the work on the front. Vollering remains glued to van Vleuten's back wheel, as she has done for the last ten kilometres.

-1km

Vollering now comes to the front, looking to control the sprint.

Van Vleuten comes through on the inside and opens up the sprint.

Vollering and van Vleuten are side by side in the sprint but van Vleuten proves to be the stronger rider and wins Omloop Het Niewsblad!

The chase group have been reabsorbed by the peloton, and Lorena Wiebes wins the bunch sprint for third place.

Van Vleuten smiles and celebrates with her Movistar teammates, while a little further down the road Vollering cuts a different figure, hunched over her handlebars. 

Annemiek van Vleuten has won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the second time in her career, you can read the full race report here.

"It is a really nice victory, especially because it was a team effort after the girls did the lead out into the Muur which makes it even more beautiful,” van Vleuten said in her post-race interview. “And then also to beat someone who is on paper faster and was all the time in your view but to still beat her, it’s quite nice to start the season like this."