The 2020 cobbled classics kick off on Saturday, February 29, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium.
The organisers – Flanders Classics – promote a men’s and women’s race on the same day, the routes typically being 199.8 kilometres and 121km respectively.
The race will finish in Ninove, with the final kilometres lit up by the Muur van Geraardsbergen. With Belgian spring classic Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne taking place the very next day, this race very much marks the beginning of the 2020 season.
The 2020 edition expects to see a number of star names attempt to get their Classics campaigns off to a winning start, with Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal), Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) and defending champion Zdeněk Štybar (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) all likely to take the start line.
>> The Muur van Geraadsbergen: cycling’s iconic places
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 route
The 199.8km route for the men’s race covers usually 13 climbs and a total of seven cobbled sections and a host of steep climbs.
The final is designed to provide explosive racing, with a duo ascent of the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg in quick succession.
Riders set off from Ghent, and in 2019 they finished in Ninove, a change on the 2018 route. Everything else was much the same.
The first climb erupts from Leberg, and is crested at kilometre 41. Soon after come the cobbles, at Haaghoek. The second pavé section comes at Huisepontweg, 70 kilometres in, and there’s a short climb soon after on Den Ast.
At the midway point, is the Katteberg climb, then more cobbles at the Holleweg and Haaghoek, before Leberg appears again at 110km.
Next up is a 2km pavé section, the Paddestraat.
Once the riders crest Rekelberg, they’ve yet to face the Valkenberg and Wolvenberg. Then there’s three cobbles sections: Ruiterstraat, Kerkgate and Jagerij.
The next challenge is the 500m long Molenberg, before yet another duo of the Haagkoek and Leberg, and then the Berendries and Elverenberg/Vossenhol, which covers 1.3km.
The last 30km set the race up for an exciting final, with the 475m cobbled Muur, which peaks up at 20 per cent. Soon after comes the 980m Bosberg, before a 12.8km charge to the finish line and a sprint in Ninove.
The women’s race, at 123km long, also starts in Gent but in 2019 finished in the town of Meerbeke, with riders tackling 10 climbs and five cobbled sections during the day.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 provisional start list
Deceuninck – Quick-Step
ŠTYBAR Zdeněk (Cze)
LAMPAERT Yves (Bel)
JUNGELS Bob (Lux)
ASGREEN Kasper (Den)
KEISSE Iljo (Bel)
DECLERQ Tim (Bel)
SÉNÉCHAL Florian (Fra)
Lotto-Soudal
GILBERT Philippe (Bel)
DIBBEN Jon (GBr)
WELLENS Tim (Bel)
MAES Nikolas (Bel)
VAN GOETHEM Brian (Ned)
VAN MOER Brent (Bel)
FRISON Frederik (Bel)
Trek-Segafredo
STUYVEN Jasper (Bel)
PEDERSEN Mads (Den)
SIMMONS Quinn (USA)
THEUNS Edward (Bel)
KIRSCH Alex (Lux)
LIEPIŅŠ Emīls (Lat)
MULLEN Ryan (Irl)
Ineos
STANNARD Ian (GBr)
DOULL Owain (GBr)
ROWE Luke (GBr)
BASSO Leonardo (Ita)
MOSCON Gianni (Ita)
SWIFT Ben (GBr)
LAWLESS Chris (GBr)
Jumbo-Visma
TEUNISSEN Mike (Ned)
VAN AERT Wout (Bel)
EENKHOORN Pascal (Ned)
LINDEMAN Bert-Jan (Ned)
JANSEN Amund Grøndahl (Nor)
VAN DER HOORN Taco (Ned)
WYNANTS Maarten (Bel)
Ag2r La Mondiale
NAESEN Oliver (Bel)
DILLIER Silvan (Sui)
GOUGEARD Alexis (Fra)
DUVAL Julien (Fra)
GODON Dorian (Fra)
NAESEN Lawrence (Bel)
VANDENBERGH Stijn (Bel)
CCC
VAN AVERMAET Greg (Bel)
TRENTIN Matteo (Ita)
SCHÄR Michael (Sui)
VAN HOECKE Gijs (Bel)
VAN HOOYDONCK Nathan (Bel)
VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume (Bel)
KOCH Jonas (Ger)
Bahrain-McLaren
TEUNS Dylan (Bel)
WRIGHT Alfred (GBr)
COLBRELLI Sonny (Ita)
HAUSSLER Heinrich (Aus)
BOLE Grega (Slo)
PIBERNIK Luka (Slo)
SIEBERG Marcel (Ger)
EF Pro Cycling
VANMARCKE Sep (Bel)
KEUKELEIRE Jens (Bel)
SCULLY Tom (NZl)
OWEN Logan (USA)
RUTSCH Jonas (Ger)
VAN DER BERG Julius (Ned)
Astana
DE VREESE Laurens (Bel)
BOARO Manuele (Ita)
ARANBURU Alex (Esp)
FELLINE Fabio (Ita)
GRUZDEV Dmitriy (Kaz)
GIDICH Yevgeniy (Kaz)
HOULE Hugo (Can)
Bora-Hansgrohe
PÖSTLBERGER Lukas (Aut)
SCHELLING Ide (Ned)
SCHILLINGER Andreas (Ger)
BAŠKA Erik (Svk)
DRUCKER Jempy (Lux)
GAMPER Patrick (Aut)
LAAS Martin (Est)
Cofidis
CLAEYS Dimitri (Bel)
VANBILSEN Kenneth (Bel)
VERMOTE Julien (Bel)
ALLEGAERT Piet (Bel)
LEMOINE Cyril (Fra)
MORIN Emmanuel (Fra)
TOUZÉ Damien (Fra)
Movistar
ROELANDTS Jürgen (Bel)
MAS Lluís (Esp)
CULLAIGH Gabriel (GBr)
HOLLMANN Juri (Ger)
JACOBS Johan (Sui)
JORGENSON Matteo (USA)
PRADES Eduard (Esp)
Mitchelton-Scott
DURBRIDGE Luke (Aus)
EDMONDSON Alex (Aus)
AFFINI Edoardo (Ita)
BEWLEY Sam (NZl)
KONYCHEV Alexander (Ita)
SMITH Dion (NZl)
STANNARD Robert (Aus)
Israel Start-Up Nation
POLITT Nils (Ger)
WURTZ SCHMIDT Mads (Den)
BIERMANS Jenthe Bel)
BOIVIN Guillaume (Can)
NEILANDS Krists (Aut)
VAN ASBROECK Tom (Bel)
MCCABE Travis (USA)
Groupama-FDJ
KÜNG Stefan (Sui)
DELAGE Mickaël (Fra)
LE GAC Olivier (Fra)
SARREAU Marc (Fra)
GENIETS Kevin (Lux)
LIENHARD Fabian (Sui)
LUDVIGSSON Tobias (Swe)
NTT Pro Cycling
VALGREN Michael (Den)
BOASSON HAGEN Edvald (Nor)
JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt (RSA)
GOGL Michael (Aut)
STOKBRO Andreas (Den)
TILLER Rasmus (Nor)
BATTISTELLA Samuele (Ita)
Sunweb
BENOOT Tiesj (Bel)
ARNDT Nikias (Ger)
KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren (Den)
PEDERSEN Casper (Den)
SÜTTERLIN Jasha (Ger)
DENZ Nico (Ger)
EEKHOFF Nils (Ned)
UAE Team Emirates
KRISTOFF Alexander (Nor)
BJERG Mikkel (Den)
BOHLI Tom (Sui)
COVI Alessandro (Ita)
LAENGEN Vegard Stake (Nor)
MARCATO Marco (Ita)
MOLANO Juan Sebastián (Col)
Team Total Direct Energie
TERPSTRA Niki (Ned)
GAUDIN Damien (Fra)
PETIT Adrien (Fra)
SOUPE Geoffrey (Fra)
TURGIS Anthony (Fra)
MANZIN Lorrenzo (Fra)
VAN GESTEL Dries (Bel)
Arkéa-Samsic
JARRIER Benoît (Fra)
VACHON Florian (Fra)
MCLAY Daniel (GBr)
SWIFT Connor (GBr)
NOPPE Christophe (Bel)
RUSSO Clément (Fra)
WELTEN Bram (Ned)
Alpecin-Fenix
DE TIER Floris (Bel)
DE BONDT Dries (Bel)
THWAITES Scott (GBr)
SBARAGLI Kristian (Ita)
LEYSEN Senne (Bel)
VAKOČ Petr (Cze)
VERGAERDE Otto (Bel)
Circus – Wanty Gobert
DE GENDT Aimé (Bel)
DE WINTER Ludwig (Bel)
OFFREDO Yoann (Fra)
VANSPEYBOUCK Pieter (Bel)
VAN POPPEL Boy (Ned)
VAN POPPEL Danny (Ned)
VLIEGEN Loïc (Bel)
Bingoal – Wallonie Bruxelles
NÕMMELA Aksel (Est)
SIX Franklin (Bel)
SUTER Joel (Sui)
LIETAER Eliot (Bel)
ROBEET Ludovic (Bel)
TAMINIAUX Lionel (Bel)
PAASSCHENS Mathijs (Ned)
Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
CAPIOT Amaury (Bel)
DE WILDE Gilles (Bel)
PLANCKAERT Edward (Bel)
SPRENGERS Thomas (Bel)
DELTOMBE Kevin (Bel)
BEULLENS Cédric (Bel)
WARLOP Jordi (Bel)
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 TV guide
13.00 – 15.40, LIVE, Eurosport 1
18.45 – 20.15, Highlights, Eurosport 1
Social Media
Twitter (text updates)
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – @OmloopHNB
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad previous winners
2005 Nick Nuyens (BEL) Quick-Step–Innergetic
2006 Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Française des Jeux
2007 Filippo Pozzato (ITA) Liquigas
2008 Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Française des Jeux
2009 Thor Hushovd (NOR) Cervélo TestTeam
2010 Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) Team Sky
2011 Sebastian Langeveld (NED) Rabobank
2012 Sep Vanmarcke (BEL) Garmin–Barracuda
2013 Luca Paolini (ITA) Team Katusha
2014 Ian Stannard (GBR) Team Sky
2015 Ian Stannard (GBR) Team Sky
2016 Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) BMC Racing Team
2017 Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) BMC Racing Team
2018 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana
2019 Zdeněk Štybar (Czh) Deceuninck–Quick-Step
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad women’s previous winners
2006 Suzanne de Goede AA Drink Cycling
2007 Mie Bekker Lacota Flexipoint
2008 Kirsten Wild AA Drink Cycling
2009 Suzanne de Goede Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung
2010 Emma Johansson Red Sun Cycling Team
2011 Emma Johansson HiTec Products-UCK
2012 Loes Gunnewijk GreenEDGE-AIS
2013 Tiffany Cromwell Orica-AIS
2014 Amy Pieters Skil Koga
2015 Anna van der Breggen Rabo-Liv
2016 Lizzie Armitstead Boels-Dolmans
2017 Lucinda Brand Team Sunweb
2018 Christina Malling Siggaard (Den) Team Virtu Cycling
2019 Chantal Blaak (Ned) Boels Dolmans
