Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne 2025

March 2, 2025 Contrary to the norm, yesterday turned out to be one for the sprinters in Omloop. Kuurne has more of a likelihood of a sprint with the last real obstacle of the Kluisberg coming 57KM from the finish so it is difficult for a small group to maintain an advantage on the peloton over such a distance. Blue skies and a light breeze gave the riders perfect racing conditions for the 197KM through the West Flanders. Represented in the early break of seven were Dries De Bondt of Decathlon AG2R, Huub Artz of Intermarché-Wanty, Ward Vanhoof of Flanders-Baloise, Marius Mayrhofer of Tudor Pro Cycling, Tomáš Kopecký of Unibet-Tietema Rockets, and Axandre Van Petegem and Cériel Desal of Wagner-Bazin WB . They had 4 minutes 30 seconds with 98KM to go on a peloton that was in full flight for positioning going into the base of the Hameau des Papins. The first big attacks came right away from Lewis Askey of Groupama-FDJ who was followed by Timo Kielich of Alpecin-Deceuninck and Jhonatan Narváez of UAE-XRG. The trio pulled out 35 seconds but with 89KM to go, Kielich punctured and had to drop back. On the Mont Saint-Laurent with 84KM to go, Narváez dropped Askey but the action was coming from the peloton. Tim Wellens of UAE-XRG got clear and brought along Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility. They picked up Askey by the top but were caught by a move from behind. Narváez was also gathered up to make about 20 riders with the main peloton 20 seconds back. The main peloton caught the 20 rider split at the bottom of the Oude Kruisberg in Ronse with 76KM to go and were 1 minute 35 seconds behind the original break of seven. Matteo Jorgenson of Visma-Lease a Bike put in a hard turn when they hit the cobbles of the Oude Kruisberg. The race was stretched but it didn't split. Visma-Lease a Bike continued to push with Wout van Aert putting a big effort in on the Hotond but again, the bunch was all together over the top for the run to the Côte du Trieu. Stefan Bissegger of Decathlon AG2R chipped off the front of the peloton before the Côte du Trieu and he was joined by Wellens as they neared the top. A group of 25 broke clear of the bunch over the Côte du Trieu and extended their gap down the Nieuwe Kwaremont but again, they were reeled in with 60KM to go. One kilometer later, as the leaders hit the final climb of the day of the Kluisberg, Wellens and Bissegger joined the original seven up front to make nine with a gap of 56 seconds. Van Aert tried one last time on the Kluisberg and was able to get away with Roger Adrià of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe. Adrià wouldn't help van Aert as they started their flat trip back to Kuurne and van Aert pulled the plug with 50KM to race. Soudal Quickstep, Lidl-Trek, and Cofidis started to ride for a bunch sprint which seemed inevitable given all of the top sprinters still in the peloton. De Bondt, Wellens, Mayrhofer, and Desal were the last ones still out front. They were working very well and entered Kortrijk through tunnels of cheering crowds, passed the famous Belfort, with 22KM to go and a gap of 25 seconds. The catch was made however just as the riders took the bell for 12KM and one local lap to go. The nerves in the peloton were high going through 5KM to go. With all of the turns on the lap, riders were getting shuffled forward and back which made it difficult for any team to stay organized. Visma-Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck took the final corner at the front, 700M from the line. The Alpecin-Deceuninck lead out was nearly perfect as Jonas Rickaert held the right side of the road and did a long pull until 300M to go. Kaden Groves took over and dropped Jasper Philipsen off with 130M to go. Philipsen started his sprint and it was never in doubt when he went. The Belgian finished off the job and crossed the line first to take the win on his birthday. Olav Kooij of Visma-Lease a Bike could not get out of Philipsen's slipstream and had to settle for second with Hugo Hofstetter of Israel-Premier Tech behind in third. After the race, the jury relegated Groves from tenth place to last in the group because of a celebration in which he took his hands off the bars, a rule put in place this season.