Omloop Race Report: The first ‘real’ race of the season, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, surprisingly finished with a bunch sprint and in a close fought lunge for the line, it was Uno-X Mobility’s Søren Wærenskjold who got the better of Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDp1CjQQAA4The first Classic to Søren Wærenskjold
Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) won the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. A large group thundered into Ninove for a bunch sprint and in the battle for victory it was Wærenskjold proved to be faster than Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
It was close, but Wærenskjold got it from Magnier and Philipsen
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Parcours
After the team presentation in the Kuipke velodrome in Gent and the unofficial start, the real start is in Merelbeke. The peloton will have just under 200 kilometres in front of them. In the first 100 kilometres of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the peloton will pass through the Zwalmstreek, Zottegem, Nazareth and Oudenaarde. Only the cobbles of the Paddestraat, Lange Munte and Haaghoek-Leberg are the main obstacles in the first part of the race. After 100 kilometres, the climbs come one after the other. The ‘feed zone’ after 114 kilometres is the start of the part of the Omloop. Roughly every 10 kilometres, the riders will hit a sharp climb. The Haaghoek-Leberg (again) is the first, followed soon after by the Valkenberg.
With 55 kilometres to go, the finale really begins with the newly redeveloped Eikenberg, 3 kilometres later is the Wolvenberg. That climb, without cobbles, is not too difficult, but right after that there is the cobbles of the Holleweg, the Karel Martelstraat and Jagerij. For a few editions the Molenberg was not on the route, it is now back again. The race should now be ‘full on’.
Next up is the Haaghoek-Leberg-Berendries. At the top of the extremely steep Berendries it is only 28.5 kilometres to the finish in Ninove. A few kilometres later the Vossenhol follows, after which there is an ‘easy’ section. It is not flat in that part, but the Muur van Geraardsbergen is looming. The iconic cobbled climb is 16 kilometres from the finish. If the race has not yet been decided on the Muur, there is still the Bosberg. After the Bosberg it is only 12 kilometres to Ninove. The finish line of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is not in the Onderwijslaan this year, but like last year in the Elisabethlaan, which is a wider finish, and one that rises slightly towards the line.
Wout van Aert – Top favourite
It didn’t take long for the early break to form. Six men escaped: Julius van den Berg (Picnic-PostNL), Enzo Leijnse (Picnic-PostNL), Elmar Reinders (Jayco AlUla), Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise) and Giosuè Epis (Arkea B&B-Hotels). Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders-Baloise) joined them a little later.
Kilometre zero
The attackers were allowed to take an 8 minute advantage. But Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Emirates XRG didn’t give them any more time. The two big teams took control and slowly reduced the lead. The seven leaders were stopped by a closed railway crossing. But they still had almost 6 minutes when they turned onto the cobbles of the Lange Munten, 90 kilometres from the finish.
A compact peloton
On those cobbles, UAE Emirates XRG decided to put on the pressure. They pulled the peloton into a long line. The acceleration did not lead to a split. The main action hadn’t come yet, but there had been a warning shot. Not much later, there was a crash in the peloton. Victor Campenaerts was one of the victims, but the Belgian of Visma | Lease a Bike was able to come back quickly. After a chain problem, he managed to rejoin.
The first break of the day
Arnaud De Lie was also having bike problems. The Belgian champion first had a flat tyre and then also had problems with his chain. He then had a big gap to close to get back to the bunch, but he managed to rejoin before the Eikenberg. There Matthew Brennan opened up the race. The 20-year-old British Visma | Lease a Bike rider attacked and was joined by Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Vito Braet (Intermarché-Wanty).
Aero TT helmet for Wout van Aert
The three were quickly caught, but it wasn’t long before the next acceleration came from Visma | Lease a Bike. Per Strand Hagenes came through on the Wolvenberg with Matteo Jorgenson on his wheel. It went quiet for a while, after which Joshua Tarling saw his chance. The British time trial specialist took off on his own. At the foot of the Molenberg he had closed the gap to within 15 seconds of the leading group, the peloton was at 1:30 behind the early break.
Visma | Lease a Bike in control of the peloton
There was no real attack on the Molenberg, but the peloton split into several pieces. At the top, 42 kilometres from the finish, De Lie, last year’s winner Jan Tratnik and Wout van Aert had to chase back on. They had been in a second group. Alpecin-Deceuninck had not missed the move and had five men at front with Kaden Groves and Jasper Philipsen. The Belgian team continued to ride at full speed to the Berendries. In the Van Aert group; Visma | Lease a Bike had started to chase.
UAE Emirates-XRG were also keen
On the Berendries, Benoot also helped the chasers. A smaller group formed behind the peloton, which first caught Joshua Tarling and then also caught the seven early escapees. The merger was complete when Van Aert and the others rejoined with 28 kilometres to go. De Lie wasn’t there for long, as he was dropped again a few kilometres later, due to his previous efforts.
Typical Flemish scene
It was finished for De Lie, but many other riders were still able to follow. There was still a fairly large peloton in the run-up to the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Just before the cobbled climb, Tratnik disappeared from this group, the Slovenian punctured at the worst possible moment. At the front, Tim Wellens took the initiative on the first difficult sections of the climb, after which Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) took over. The young Lidl-Trek rider kept the pace high.
It wasn’t Arnaud De Lie’s day
At the summit there was still fifteen to twenty riders. Among them Philipsen, several UAE riders and Van Aert, who attempted to get away on the flat. Tim van Dijke moved up, but the Dutchman didn’t take over. The race went quiet, after which Jorgenson and Wellens tried, but got nothing. The Bosberg was the next chance. Vacek did put pressure again, but he couldn’t create a gap. The first to get away, after the Bosberg, was Stefan Küng. The Swiss went solo as a TT specialist can.
Visma’s Matthew Brennan Matthew split the peloton
Jasper Philipsen – More than just a sprinter
Bad luck for last years winner, Jan Tratnik
Matteo Trentin tried to cross on his own, but couldn’t get to him. Jorgenson closed the gap to the Italian as Küng gained more time on the group of chasers, which grew considerably. The dropped Pidcock was able to return. The peloton now consisted of around 50 riders. Visma | Lease a Bike took the initiative to put Van Aert in a position for a sprint win. But Küng still had 17 seconds.
Stefan Küng Stefan made a brave effort in the final
Just before the start of the final kilometre, Küng was pulled in. That meant that there would be a bunch sprint in Ninove. INEOS Grenadiers took the lead after the last bend, but the fast-finishers came up from behind. Jasper Philipsen and Paul Magnier started their sprint, but it was Uno-X Mobility’s Søren Wærenskjold who came up on the right side of the road to take the victory. Magnier finished in second place, Philipsen had to settle for third. Top favourite, Van Aert finished in 11th.
A big win for the rider who wasn’t even meant to be racing today – Søren Wærenskjold
Race winner, Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility): “I was actually supposed to race tomorrow (Kuurne). Tomorrow it will be more of a sprint race, but today it also became a sprint due to the headwind. It feels a bit surreal. I have no words for this, but I am very happy with this victory. I think it will only decide after a few hours. I wanted to go left, because I was afraid of getting locked up on the right. But there was an opening. So I first went right and then found an opening on the left. It turned out perfectly. I’m just super happy. In the last few meters I gave everything. I saw that Magnier was sitting next to me, it was very close. I did my best to arrive first. That it worked, gives a great feeling. Certainly. Far away. With this peloton, with all these big names. This is a big step for me in the right direction. I didn’t think this was possible, but it worked. That’s very nice. I was behind a fall on the Molenberg. I then tried to seek the hole, but didn’t have the legs. That’s why I tried to save as much energy as possible. I also didn’t try to go all the way up on the climbs, but in the end I still had to go almost full. The pace was so high. It was hard, but I had the legs to finally do a good sprint.”
Søren Wærenskjold – His biggest win
# All the news from the weekend in EUROTRASH Monday. #
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Result:
1. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility in 4:37:53
2. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step
3. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
4. Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto
5. Samuel Watson (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
6. Lukas Kubis (Slov) Unibet Tietema Rockets
7. Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
8. Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost
9. Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
10. Lewis Askey (GB) Groupama-FDJ.
Like PEZ? Why not subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive updates and reminders on what’s cool in road cycling?
