With the Spring Classics set to get underway on Saturday and Sunday at the Flemish Opening Weekend, UAE Team Emirates-XRG have announced their squads for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. A fusion of strong rouleurs and attacking puncheurs, the team seem set to challenge for the victory at both races, but a notable absence from the lineup is obviously Tadej Pogačar.
The Slovenian rider has opted to skip the first cobbled Classic of the season, as he has his sights firmly set on Strade Bianche the following week, with a view to then winning Milan-San Remo later next month. However, it certainly would have been interesting to see how his early season form translated to a cobbled Classic, after his overall victory and dominant performance at the UAE Tour.
Then again, given his knack for winning almost every race that he turns up to, it might be in Pogačar’s interest to give Omloop Het Nieuwsblad a miss, as he is set to ride the Tour of Flanders in April and no rider has ever won both races in the same year. However, if one rider was to ever accomplish this feat, you would expect it to be Tadej Pogačar.
Even in his absence, UAE Team Emirates-XRG bring an incredibly strong lineup to this race, with all of them having an opportunity to showcase their ability against a strong start list that includes some of the best Classics riders in the world.
In their ranks for Saturday are a trio of Belgians in Rune Herregodts, Florian Vermeersch and Tim Wellens, who finished second at last year’s edition of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. Joining them will be the powerhouses of Mikkel Bjerg and last year’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad runner-up Nils Politt, whilst Jhonatan Narváez and António Morgado will provide more punchy attacking options for the team. The latter will then be replaced by his compatriot Rui Oliveira for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday, whilst the rest of the squad will remain the same.
Speaking in a team press release ahead of a weekend of racing on home soil, Tim Wellens was excited about getting his 2025 Classics campaign underway, as he said “being from Belgium, this period of the season is always very special and exciting for me. I believe our classics team continues to evolve year on year and I think we go into the races with a very strong team with the possibility to do great things”.
He also spoke about carrying the team’s winning momentum into the Classics after strong performances in the early season races, stating that “this year we will be one of the main favourites in these races compared to other years. We’ve had a very strong start to the year and the atmosphere is very good so we’ll hope to keep that going."
With the strength of their squad, Wellens is right to point out UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s status as one of the favourites for the victory. However, even with their depth of quality, the one thing they are missing from their roster is an out-and-out sprinter, with Juan Sebastián Molano currently sidelined due to injury after his crash in the opening stage of the UAE Tour.
Jhonatan Narváez is probably the fastest finisher out of the eight riders selected for both races, but his only chance of winning in a sprint would be from a reduced group. Therefore, we will likely see the Emirati squad attempt to make the race hard on the climbs in an attempt to drop the fast men before the finish, with plenty of attacks then expected in the finales.
