Omloop Nieuwsblad 2025 Men’s Race Live - Rare bunch finish produces unlikely winner in Soren Waerenskjold of Uno-X

In my defence, it almost never does. Am I out of touch? No, it's the riders who must be wrong.
That was a solid opening race to the classics campaign. I'll be back here for Strade Bianche in a week, making more ill-judged bets. Fred's gonna win one eventually, right?

1. Søren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) 4:37:53
2. Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) ,,
3. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) ,,
4. Brent van Moer (Lotto) ,,
5. Sam. Watson (Ineos Grenadiers) ,,
6. Lukáš Kubis (Unibet Tietema Rockets) ,,
7. Piet Allegaert (Cofidis) ,,
8. Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education - EasyPost) ,,
9. Marijn Van Den Berg (EF Education - EasyPost) ,,
10. Lewis Askey (Groupama FDJ)

After all that, Wout was 11th.

It was a long, wild sprint and we were all looking at Philipsen, but the Norwegian was there with a clear run on the right hand side. He had the space and the speed. A huge win for him, and for Uno-X.

Vermeersch is leading it out for Philipsen.

Damn good try, but the race is back together. Is there time for any more attacks, or is the pace too high?

It could be for Kung, but there's nothing he can do but ride. Steve Cummings thinks there's too much firepower behind.

The onus on Visma and Alpecin. No-one else is going to ride to give their strong sprinters any help at all. It's still 15 seconds but "if he's strong enough, he can hold them off" says Robbie McEwen.

It's too big to be organized, which will help Kung. He's riding into a headwind, however, which certainly won't. That's at least 10 seconds, which is not nothing at this stage in proceedings. More hesitation, and the gap opens more.

He knows he can't wait for a sprint, so takes advantage of hesitation among the allies. This is a good distance for the time triallist. Whatever happens for him happens.

And still a large group of riders in contention. Mathias Vacek is looking good, but so is the Groupama pair of Kung and Askey.

On the concrete approach to the Bosberg. Jorgensen pulls him back, and holds the pace. It looks like he's riding for Wout, but Philipsen is still looking good.

And while a number of riders have been jettisoned, plenty haven't been and twenty riders are still in contention. The Bosberg is where the real damage will be done.

Philipsen is hanging on. He's climbing impressively well, but the gaps are opening up. Past the chapel they go, for one of the most famous shots in cycling.

890m in length at an average of 9%. It's a climb you know about but it's super fun to ride. There are a fair few riders who can't wait too long before they need to move. Who will reveal their hand first?

Down over the bridge into Geraardsbergen and rotten luck for last year's winner, Jan Tratnik, for whom it's game over due to a flat rear tyre.

They want to control it, but it tells me both they think they can, and that Philipsen can get over the top of the Muur and Kapelmuur in touch with the front of the race. I still think he'll need help on the run-in. Pidcock, who has just moved up, also still has a team-mate with him.

He knocks it off after not long, but it's enough to elicit some splits. Less than 10km out from the Muur at 40 or so riders, it's a larger group than we might expect - though I bet we say that every year. This is going to come down to legs.

Van Aert can thank Tiesj Benoot for that, but also some hesitation up front. Was it caused by riders beginning to think about the Muur and Bosberg?