Wærenskjold beats Philipsen and Magnier to the line in Ninove(Image credit: Getty Images)
Wærenskjold celebrates as the victory is confirmed to him past the finish line(Image credit: Getty Images)
The final podium of the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Getty Images)
Wærenskjold takes victory narrowly in a tight bunch sprint(Image credit: Getty Images)
Magnier gives everything to the line but comes up short(Image credit: Getty Images)
Oliver Naesen makes his way up the iconic Muur(Image credit: Getty Images)
Fred Wright battles with the cobbles of the Muur(Image credit: Getty Images)
Van Aert battles with the cobbles as he looks for victory in the Omloop(Image credit: Getty Images)
Uno-X Mobility lead the peloton over the cobbles(Image credit: Getty Images)
Visma-Lease a Bike did much of the early chasing at Omloop het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Getty Images)
The seven-man breakaway at the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Getty Images)
An early crash in the race for three riders(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad provided its usual fantastically bonkers start to the Classics seasons with attacks, tactical headaches, crashes and cobbles, but after all that it came down to a bunch sprint with Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) taking a surprise win ahead of Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) looked as though he had stolen a march when he attacked away from the peloton after the Bosberg and was allowed to build a gap of over 15 seconds. However, as more teams came back after the key cobbled climbs were completed and he battled with a strong headwind in the run for home, he was eventually pulled back inside the final kilometre.
When the sprint opened up in Ninove, it was Ineos Grenadiers who were best positioned coming into the final bend. Philipsen hit the front, launching away from a fading Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), but Wærenskjold and Magnier came with a lot of speed on either side of the Belgian and beat him.
The Norwegian was unsure of the result as he crossed the line with a desperate bike throw, however, the photo finish revealed that he had a bigger winning gap than he realised. He celebrated with his teammates once he was informed over the radio of the biggest victory of his career so far.
How it unfolded
Starting in the Belgian city of Gent, the 80th men’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad set off on a 197km route, taking on eleven cobbled sectors as the riders headed to the finish in Ninove.
The racing kicked off with the usual plethora of attacks. Six riders got an early gap with one chaser, eventually forming a seven-man group.
They were Elmar Reinders (Jayco-AlUla), Julius van den Berg (Picnic-PostNL), Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise), Hartthijs De Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Enzo Leijnse (Picnic-PostNL), Giosuè Epis (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Siebe Deweirdt (Flander-Baloise). Getting a maximum gap of 7:40 on the peloton.
There were multiple reports of early crashes but nothing to say that anyone was injured or abandoning the race as the riders took on the first cobbled sections of the Classics season.
With 92km to go on the third cobbled sector, the Lange Munte, UAE Team Emirates-XRG attacked the peloton along with Tudor, catching Visma-Lease a Bike out as they sat at the back. However, it all came to nothing.
After that acceleration the pace remained high in the peloton as various teams battled to keep their leaders in the best position possible through the narrow streets around the various Belgian villages that litter the landscape.
Just before the Haaghoek cobbled section of the race, a few riders went down. Küng, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Ryan Mullen (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) were involved, but all continued riding.
Belgian national champion Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) had a mechanical and needed a bike change with around 70km to go, but he wasn’t getting back quickly. It took him almost 15km to make his way back onto the rear of the peloton.
On the Eikenberg, there was an attack by the youngest rider in the race, 19-year-old Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), along with Vito Braet (Intermarche-Wanty) and Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), but a counter move by Kim Heiduk (Ineos Grenadiers) saw it come back together again.
Then, on the Holleweg cobbled sector, there was an attack by British time trial champion Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), who rode away solo from the peloton.
The Molenberg saw the usual splits in the peloton despite not really having much acceleration, but Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), De Lie and defending champion Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) all missed the split.
A group of big favourites got a gap with Alpecin-Deceuninck bossing the group with both Philipsen and Kaden Groves following the wheels of their two teammates.
With 30km to go, Tarling was caught by the Alpecin-Deceuninck-led group as well as the break getting caught on the Berendries, but Visma were closing things but were still not quite able to close the final gap.
Tiesj Benoot (Visma-Lease a Bike) did one massive turn which dragged the likes of De Lie, Narváez and the rest. However, Van Aert was taking longer to get there before eventually making the split. De Lie was the next rider to get dropped after several huge efforts, and his legs just went pop.
With 20km to go, the race had its most settled moment for a long time as the team of Philipsen, Alpecin-Deceuninck, led the way as they headed to the Muur Van Geraardsbergen.
Just at the base of the climb, defending champion Jan Tratnik had an untimely rear wheel puncture that saw his chances of defending his title go up in smoke.
As soon as they went onto the Kapelmuur, it was Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the front accelerating with Matthias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) taking over with Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), Narváez, Philipsen and the rest struggling to follow the wheel.
But, it was still quite a large group all together over the top of the Kapelmuur as Van Aert tried a move over the top to attempt to split the race further.
The next move to go was Matteo Jorgenson of Visma-Lease a Bike, but everyone was alive to the danger once again. Nothing was being allowed to get away with 15km to go and one cobbled ascent to go on the Bosberg. Onto the Bosberg, and it was Vacek who led over the top of the climb with Morgado, Teuns (Cofidis) and Pidcock all trying to bridge to the leading group.
With 10km to go, Stefan Küng went clear, with no one following initially. Various moves tried to bridge, but none could get to the Swiss rider's wheel. Two groups came together behind as several teammates came back to work for their leaders.
Küng held on until just over a kilometre to go when the leadouts began, and Ineos Grenadiers took it up for Watson. But it was Uno-X Mobility’s Wærenskjold who beat Magnier and Philipsen on the line. to go, only to be caught with just 1km to go. The sprint opened up, and the Norwegian Wærenskjold took the win in a tight run to the line.
