Jan Tratnik makes a good Omloop Het Niewsblad for Visma-Lease a Bike

As expected, the Omloop Het Niewsblad did not disappoint with an exciting race, fought from afar and finally resolved in the most unexpected way, in favor of a cyclist from Visma-Lease a Bike, total dominators of the race and with Wout van Aert who continues without winning in these races despite expanding his collection of podiums.

Omloop Het Niewsblad opens the cobblestone season with Jan Tratnik's victory

Excellent dose of cobblestones for all those cycling fans who know that the spring classics collect the best moments of each season. The Omloop Het Niewsblad broke the ice in an authentic Flemish day: unpleasant, cold, windy but, luckily for the cyclists, the rain respected them. In any case, few short shorts were seen in the peloton.

As expected, the initial part was marked by the usual breakaway of the day in which no remarkable cyclist sneaked in. They were allowed to go until, with more than 120 km to go, one of the flat cobblestone sections caused the main peloton to fragment, signaling the start of hostilities.

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A group of just 23 cyclists remained in pursuit of the breakaway, with no less than five cyclists from Visma-Lease a Bike, including Wout van Aert among them, and other relevant names such as Tom Pidcock, Jasper Philipssen, or Arnaud De Lie. The Soudal-QuickStep card Julian Alaphilippe was not among them, starting his ordeal in this race where he suffered falls, punctures, and all kinds of misfortunes. A bad day for both him and his team, which never had a man in a position to fight for victory.

The situation would stabilize until, with 54 km to go, on the ascent to Wolvenberg, Matteo Jorgenson began to repay Visma-Lease a Bike's confidence shown with his signing. He accelerated the pace with a move that was supported by Wout van Aert in person, who managed to make what seemed to be the definitive selection, forming a group composed of him, Jorgenson and Laporte as representatives of the Dutch team, and completed by Tom Skujins, Tom Pidcock, and Arnaud De Lie.

They made their way in the typical situation where, from the peloton, each one tried to make war on their own trying to link up solo, causing the gap to shoot up to 1 minute. The race seemed decided for those in front.

Then, the succession of walls continued, with the front cyclists trying to make their moves, which were perfectly controlled by Wout van Aert's lieutenants. Of all those in front, Pidcock seemed to suffer the most in each ascent, fighting not to get dropped in each one.

They reached the long transition section that preceded the final part with the typical linking Kapelmuur - Bosberg. A transition terrain where Matteo Jorgenson was looking for a surprise and came very close to succeeding. In fact, he managed to crown the Muur-Kapelmuur with a 20'' lead over the group where De Lie tried to break away, unsuccessfully.

They arrived at the Bosberg, gradually reducing Jorgenson's lead until they caught him at the top. What was not expected is that a numerous group of people also arrived from behind when we all thought they were out of contention for the victory, restarting a race that we all thought was decided and with a situation where there were no more difficulties until the finish line.

Here began the typical movements seeking to surprise, always followed by a man from Visma-Lease a Bike until it was the bet of Nils Politt, with Jan Tratnik by his side, who would finally succeed.

Even so, they had to fight until the final straight, with a lead that did not exceed 15 seconds, ultimately enough for them to reach the final straight with options to play it out in a sprint where a Jan Tatnik, who just sat on the wheel knowing he had Wout van Aert behind him as a safety net, gave no chance to the cyclist from UAE Team Emirates and started the classics for Visma-Lease a Bike in the same way as a year ago in this same race, with a victory that validates the superb work of the team throughout the day.

A work that was rounded off a few seconds later by Wout van Aert himself, winning convincingly in the group sprint to accumulate another honorable position and continue to enlarge that legend of eternal second place that is on its way to removing the nickname from the legendary Raymond Poulidor.

Omloop Het Niewsblad Classification

1. Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike) 4h31'27''
2. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) +03''
3. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +08''
4. Oliver Naesen (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)+08''
5. Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike)+08''
6. Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty)+08''
7. Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek)+08''
8. Tom Pidcock (INEOS-Grenadiers)+08''
9. Matteo Trentin (Tudor)+08''
10. Arnaud de Lie (Lotto-Dstny)+08''