The 2025 cobbled Classics season started on the weekend as the boys’s peloton headed to Belgium to tackle Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
The races lie a ways clear of the largest objectives of spring – the Excursion of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – however serve to offer early bragging rights for the riders and groups who will do struggle at the cobbles all through the following six weeks, together with the following forestall at Ename Samyn Vintage (previously Le Samyn).
Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took house the spoils on Saturday and Sunday, however Tuesday brings a 2nd probability for a few of the ones riders who neglected out on glory.
The 1.1-ranked Ename Samyn Vintage runs over 199km of partially cobbled roads in Wallonia moderately than Flanders and would be the subsequent assembly level within the cobbled Classics calendar sooner than the primary stretch of races starts later in March.
Mathieu van der Poel’s surprising season debut has grabbed the headlines as he’s taking at the race for the primary time since 2021. All eyes shall be at the former global champion as he will get his highway season underneath approach for Alpecin-Deceuninck.
A number of different most sensible riders shall be taking at the race between Quaregnon and Dour, too, together with Soudal-QuickStep’s younger Classics promise Paul Magnier.
The 20-year-old may well be the following shining gentle of spring for the Belgian group, which has was one thing of an also-ran at the cobbles in recent times. He completed 2nd at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, simply wanting Wærenskjold within the completing dash, and shall be hoping for extra good fortune on Tuesday.
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“Second place is a bit frustrating, especially as I was so close, but at the end of the day, it’s a podium in my first cobbled Classic,” Magnier mentioned, reflecting on his robust Omloop debut.
“So, at the same time, I am happy with this result after a hard race and an equally hard sprint in the headwind. It’s a good result for us and for our confidence to kick off the Classics.
“Now I can center of attention on Le Samyn subsequent week and optimistically I can be within the place to combat for a just right consequence additionally there.”
Another rider who will be aiming for a result is Lotto’s Arnaud De Lie. The 22-year-old Belgian made his mark on the Classics with a second place on his Omloop debut two years ago, but this time around he could only finish 85th as teammate Brent Van Moer scored Lotto’s best result in fourth place.
De Lie suffered a broken wheel at a pivotal moment on Saturday and would later fall victim to another mechanical, necessitating a bike change. He didn’t ride Kuurne, and now Le Samyn provides another chance to add to his palmarès before he heads off to training camp before Milan-San Remo and the Flanders Classics.
“Within the dash I believe one thing used to be no doubt imaginable for me, however I simply wasn’t there,” De Lie said after Omloop. “That is additionally the game. I used to be in a bloc. For me in my opinion it wasn’t just right, however we need to keep sure. There are nonetheless some nice races to return.
