The racing calendar's first spring Classic, the Omloop Het Volk will change its name to the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the 64th edition of the event this year. The name change came about after the daily Het Nieuwsblad took over the Het Volk newspaper. General Editor Peter Vandermeersch said, "The Omloop Het Volk is such a great monument, and we think cycling is so important for our newspaper that we wanted to continue running the opening Belgian classic in our name."
With the announcement of the name change came some details about a revamped parcours, which will include the Muur van Geraardsbergen after a year's absence. The muur or wall of Geraardsbergen was first featured in the race in 1950 and has since been included 47 times.
