And so it begins. The first flowers have bloomed in Belgium’s rolling hills, slick cobbles glisten under rays of sunshine – spring is here, and the first Saturday in March has brought us Omloop het Nieuwsblad. This is how the cycling season goes, and how it always has done. Each year, climbs like the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg are the stage on which the drama plays out. The peloton is the cast, and there are main characters among it whose names top the bill in the weeks leading up to the race. For 2025, they were Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, Tom Pidcock, supported by an ensemble of teammates who will do their best to help them to victory. It’s easy to think that we know what to expect when Omloop rolls around.
For some time, it seemed like the men’s race was going largely to script. An early breakaway was established, filled with opportunistic attackers who were given a healthy advantage. The likes of Team Visma-Lease a Bike, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek came to the fore as the kilometres ticked down, and slowly but surely, the time gap tumbled with them. There was the usual nerves and tension on the approach to the climbs as lead out trains fought for space on the small winding roads of Flanders. As the ultimate ascent of the Muur approached, it was time for the final act.
The usual protagonists were there as written: Van Aert and Philipsen principal among them. Ineos had representation with Sam Watson too – the British rider impressing with a breakthrough ride – as did UAE Team Emirates-XRG with Jhonatan Narváez, and Lidl-Trek with Mathias Vacek. For Alpecin-Deceuninck, the team of pre-race favourite Philipsen, things were all going to plan. The Belgian rider made the selection and he’s proven himself to be one of the fastest sprinters in the world time and time again, even after a hard race. His teammates had kept him on the right side of splits in the peloton for the entire day, looking drilled and impressively organised.
It might have seemed, at that point, the ending to the story of Omloop het Nieuwsblad 2025 was going to be a predictable one. That Philipsen would live up to the hype that has surrounded him in the run-up and win after having the strongest team performance. On paper, the Belgian should have taken victory from the reduced bunch that hurtled towards the finish line in Ninove. But this is bike racing, and things can change very quickly. There was a final plot twist to come.
That twist came in the form of Søren Wærenskjold, a rider for ProTeam Uno-X Mobility who came soaring through the middle of the bunch sprint – still wearing his leg warmers – with a finishing kick that few would have expected to be quick enough to edge in front of both Philipsen and Quick-Step’s Paul Magnier. With a final bike throw across the line, the Norwegian rider took it: the biggest win of his career so far, ahead of a peloton of stars, in a race that he admitted afterwards he wasn’t even due to start in. A late substitution and last-minute call from Uno-X Mobility to put Wærenskjold in their Omloop team might have just been the best decision they have ever made.
The 24-year-old said after the race: "I'm happy and excited but it is also strange, I need to let it sink in and celebrate tonight. It’s a strange feeling.”
And what about the rest of them? A dejected Philipsen finished in third place eventually, when the world expected victory. Magnier took a promising second, a result that Soudal-Quick Step will be pleased with from their new Classics talent. Van Aert, however, didn’t even make the top-10 for Visma-Lease a Bike, who may well be wondering if they need to rethink their strategy for the rest of the spring. Wærenskjold said his team would be drinking champagne in the evening, but for others there will be harsh conversations rather than celebrations.
Omloop is only the start of a Classics season that although will feature the same climbs and races as it does every year, is going to be full of surprises. We never really know what to expect from the chaos and carnage of the cobbles, and for every success story like Wærenskjold’s there will be many disappointments for others. Stand-out riders like Philipsen are showing promising signs of form, but winning is never easy. The depth and level of the men’s WorldTour peloton is greater than ever and when it comes to the Classics it's becoming harder and harder to predict who will come out on top. Wærenskjold’s underdog victory at Omloop is proof enough of that. It's still anyone's game.
