Greg Van Avermaet wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Peter Sagan second

The Belgian out-sprinted the world champion to win the opening cobbled Classic

Photo: Graham Watson

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad from a lead group of five riders. Coming over in second was Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), who many would have backed for the win when it became clear that the lead group would be battling for the victory.

Van Avermaet was the first to kick with about 150 metres to go. Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) and Luke Rowe (Team Sky) could not match the acceleration, but Sagan looked to have the measure of the Belgian.

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Jack Elton-Walters hails from the Isle of Wight, and would be quick to tell anyone that it's his favourite place to ride. He has covered a varied range of topics for Cycling Weekly, producing articles focusing on tech, professional racing and cycling culture. He moved on to work for Cyclist Magazine in 2017 where he stayed for four years until going freelance. He now returns to Cycling Weekly from time-to-time to cover racing, review cycling gear and write longer features for print and online.