Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

After the early season has seen the women’s Movistar Team compete primarily in Spain -with the only exception of the UAE Tour-, the Blues land in Belgium to start the long period of spring classics, almost two months, with Flemish roads gathering most attention.

With Nieuwsblad, and its eight rated climbs plus five cobbled sectors, starts the period of real stress and nerves. It’s a course where, wind permitting, all action is mixed in just 50km, even though it’s the Molenberg -85km, fourty-two kilometers from the end- which really sees the peloton splitting up.

The key section, where the favourites play their cards, is an emblematic duo of climbs: the Kapelmuur, with 16km to go, and the subsequent Bosberg, 12km before the line.