10 Omloop Nieuwsblad conclusions 🇧🇪
We analyse performances from Visma, Red Bull, Uno-X, Groupama and others from within the men's race
Hi Subscribers,
I’ve purposely omitted the winner and any race-outcome details in the title and strap. This is a newsletter, and if you haven’t watched the race - and I recommend that you do - I don’t want to spoil the outcome via email.
Below are 10 conclusions, quotes from the main protagonists, and results. The first two conclusions are free, while the rest are for paid subscribers. I will return on Monday with more analysis/content from today’s women’s and Sunday’s races.
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Circumstances help Wærenskjold and Uno-X reach perfection 🇳🇴
At no point in the race did it look like Uno-X Mobility were about to cause an upset. However, Søren Wærenskjold wasn’t even meant to be on the start line, only coming in for Markus Hoelgaard at the last minute.
While few of us paid much attention to Wærenskjold, even in the race's closing stages, his tactics and those of Uno-X Mobility were executed to perfection. They had Wærenskjold sitting in the wheels, ready for a sprint, while Jonas Abrahamsen chased down all he could and marked moves as the closing stages approached. Although simple, this approach proved incredibly effective, and Wærenskjold certainly deserved his first WorldTour win.
With 200m still to go, Wærenskjold was in the perfect position, still tucked in behind Lukáš Kubiš. Jasper Philipsen was forced to swing into the wind and around Wout van Aert, having positioned himself behind the wrong rival in the closing stages, and just as the Belgian pulled alongside Wærenskjold, with around 75m to go, Paul Magnier opened his sprint. However, his task was huge with so little road left and almost a full-bike length to make up. Those two manoeuvres from Philipsen and Magnier were needed but they cost them the win, but take nothing away from Wærenskjold.
Few sprinters would have latched onto Kubiš’s wheel, instead marking one of the more high profile riders in contention. That choice from Wærenskjold meant he didn’t have to battle with anyone in the last 1km and could hold his position until the perfect moment.
A word on Kubiš, too. Sixth in a WorldTour race was an excellent result for him and Unibet Tietema Rockets.
“I wanted to go left, because I was afraid of getting boxed in on the right. But there was an opening. So I first went right and then found an opening on the left. It worked out perfectly. I am just super happy. In the final metres I gave everything. I saw that Magnier was next to me, it was very close. I did my best to be the first. That I succeeded gives a great feeling,” the winner said at the finish.
Stefan Küng is getting closer 🇨🇭
With 10km to go, the race was perched on a knife-edge, as the sprinters’ teams remained disorganised after the Bosberg, while some pre-race favourites were either on their knees, trailing behind, or waiting to see who would falter first.
It was the textbook time to attack and Stefan Küng (Groupama FDJ) duly obliged with a powerful dig. You can see, though, with around 12km remaining, the Swiss rider was waiting for the right moment to pounce. At that point, Jhonatan Narváez and Mattoe Jorgensen traded turns on the front, with Küng holding tight but waiting to see if another rider would move first.
Jorgensen did in fact accelerate, but it was a poor move, given he was already on the front, and it was easy for Matteo Trentin, in this case, to change his trajectory and shut the American down. Lewis Askey was next to hit the front before Sam Watson had a shot, but once the pace slowed, Küng kicked for home.
It was an impressive demonstration of power and precision, and although Trentin came close to closing the gap on his own, and the duo may have made it to the finish, there was no way Küng could have waited for the Tudor rider.
He’d have lost 10/10 times in the sprint against Trentin, with his only option being an all-out effort to the line. Despite the headwind, the Swiss rider established a gap of around 16 seconds but the conditions and the collective chase from behind as Visma, Alpecin and EF regained control always meant that Küng was doomed.
He was duly swallowed up with 1.2km to go. It was a valiant effort for a rider who continues to come close to a major one day Classic win, and it was undoubtedly a step in the right direction as he continues to build for the bigger one-race races that pepper March and April. He will get there one day.
UAE’s domination falters 🇦🇪
UAE Team Emirates XRG have already reached double digits in terms of victories this season, with 12 wins from six different riders, and they arrived in Belgium with one of the strongest rosters. Jhonatan Narváez, António Morgado, Nils Politt, and Tim Wellens would all make it into any team in the race, but when it mattered most, the team were left without a result in the finale.
