The Classics begin with Opening Weekend, and Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert and Demi Vollering are among the favourites in the men's and women's races
(Image credit: Getty Images)
After several weeks of sun-facing action in Australia, the Middle East, and Iberia to kick off the 2025 racing season, the men's and women's pelotons head north this weekend for Opening Weekend and their first date with the cooler weather and cobblestones.
Saturday brings the first cobbled Classic of the year in the form of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, a 197km/138km blast over the hills and cobbles of Flanders that includes the famous ascents of the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg.
For many fans, the races mark the 'real' start of the season, with earlier meets in the sunnier weather historically considered 'warm-ups' for the more serious stuff later on, even if that's certainly not the case nowadays.
Rain, grey skies, and (relatively) low temperatures await the men's and women's pelotons at Gent's famous 't Kuipke velodrome on Saturday, while the brutal cobbles, largely untouched in 10 months, are on hand once again to test the Classics stars.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Sunday's more sprinter-friendly Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne may lie a while away from the biggest goals of the spring, with the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix still lurking six months in the future, however, the race still marks an important part of the early season. It is the beginning of the Belgian racing season and the first opportunity for the Classics hopefuls to get a big result on the board.
With that in mind, here's a look at our selection of 10 contenders to watch at the men's and women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Demi Vollering at Setmana Valenciana with her new team (Image credit: Getty Images)
Demi Vollering could not have started off her season any better than her overall victory at the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana. The former Tour de France winner switched teams from SD Worx-Protime in 2024 and raced for the first time in the colours of her new team FDJ-SUEZ, after what was the most talked about transfer in the off-season.
In what will surely be an ongoing discussion topic on peloton dynamics this season, Vollering beat her former teammates Marlen Reusser (now Movistar) and a fresh-out-of-retirement Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), showing strong early season form.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will mark the start of Vollering's lengthy Spring Classics campaign and while she has traditionally ridden in support of former SD Worx teammates like Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes, this year could see her take the reins at FDJ-SUEZ as the team's leader.
Her best place was second in the 2022 edition, but she was also sixth in 2024, and 13th in 2021, showing that this race suits her all-rounder strengths. (KF)
Tom Pidcock at the AlUla Tour (Image credit: Getty Images)
Following his transfer over the winter, Pidcock has experienced a dream start to his time at Swiss team Q36.5. The British multi-discipline star has already racked up four victories across two stage races, taking two wins and the overall at the AlUla Tour before adding another win on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Andalucia.
The two races, however, are a far cry from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in terms of terrain, weather, and temperature. The chilliness and possible rain may come as a shock to the system following races in the heat but Pidcock will line as one of the favourites in Gent.
Pidcock's planned schedule for the spring is focussed around the Italian and Ardennes Classics, making Omloop Nieuwsblad his sole cobbled outing of the coming months. Given his pair of top-10 finishes in the past two editions and his current form, Pidcock is a real contender to continue his winning run here. (DO)
Pfeiffer Georgi at the Tour of Britain in 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Since turning pro in 2021, 24-year-old Georgi has gradually established herself as one of the premier Classics forces in the women's peloton. Building from a promising base in the junior ranks she's now ascended to team leadership at Picnic-PostNL and will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming months.
On the cobbles thus far she has one big win – at the 2023 Classic Brugge-De Panne – to her name while she also said last year's podium at Paris-Roubaix felt "like a win" following a spring of bad luck.
Now, alongside Charlotte Kool and new teammate Marta Cavalli, her Picnic-PostNL team figures to be a major player this March and April. Neither will accompany Georgi at Omloop but she's in good form following a top-10 finish at the UAE Tour. The signs look good for her to match or exceed her 2023 fifth-place finish. (DO)
Wout van Aert at Volta ao Algarve (Image credit: Getty Images)
Visma-Lease a Bike have basked in their own success at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in recent years winning the last three consecutive editions, while also placing two riders on the podium in the previous two years.
Wout van Aert is no exception to the team's success having won the race in 2022 and he finished third last year while his then-teammate Jan Tratnik, zipped off the front of a selection to beat Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) in Ninove.
Van Aert then went on to win Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne the next day, with Visma-Lease a Bike once again dominating Opening Weekend after Tiesj Benoot won in Kuurne the previous year.
However, the dynamics of the peloton have shifted with last season's transfer market bringing about significant changes including Tratnik's move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. But Van Aert will still have support from a powerful team that includes Edoardo Affini, Tiesj Benoot, Matteo Jorgenson, Per Strand Hagenes and new signings Victor Campenaerts and Niklas Behrens.
Van Aert is still building his form after crashing out of the Vuelta a España last September taking much-needed time off to recover from a knee injury. He returned to cyclocross racing at the end of December and secured two wins and then second place at the World Championships, before turning his attention to road racing at Clásica Jaén.
At the recent Volta ao Algarve, Van Aert twice finished seventh on stage 3 and stage 4 but admitted that he just wasn't strong enough (yet) to battle for the win.
And if there were ever a rider who could turn their fortune around it is Wout Van Aert – and he already looked on his way after taking an unexpected second place on the final time trial at Volta ao Algarve – so watch for him to pull off a victory in Ninove. (KF)
Lorena Wiebes at the UAE Tour (Image credit: Getty Images)
SD Worx-Protime will begin Opening Weekend without their World Champion Lotte Kopecky, who has opted to start her season at Milan-San Remo, but they will have a solid contender in Lorena Wiebes.
Kopecky has said she will compete in the bulk of the hillier Spring Classics later in March and April before turning her attention to training for her GC ambitions at the Tour de France Femmes.
Wiebes will take on more of a sprint role in the early season, which she is no stranger too as one of the fastest women in the peloton and she has already won three stages at the UAE Tour. However, she has made an effort to improve her all-around strengths, particularly on short and steep climbs, and will divert her attention somewhat to focus on the flatter Spring Classics.
The team will also field a powerful lead-out with the likes of Barbara Guarischi, Femke Markus and Mischa Bredewold, all capable of bringing Wiebes to the finish line in prime position.
Watch for Bredewold to be a second card to play for SD Worx-Protime. Having already secured a stage victory at Setmana Valenciana, she could bring this form into Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. (KF)
Biniam Girmay in 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Since bursting onto the scene with his win at Gent-Wevelgem three years ago, Girmay has generally focussed his Classics efforts later in the spring, skipping Opening Weekend in 2023 and recording 55th and 122nd places last time out.
This year may be different, though, with the Eritrean beginning his 2025 season in flying form. He hasn't yet recorded a win in this, his fourth full season in the WorldTour, but he's barely been out of the top 10 in seven race days so far.
He kicked off his year with fourth and ninth places in two legs of the Challenge Mallorca, before last week taking sixth at the Figueira Champions Classic. At the Volta ao Algarve, he added second and fifth places to that tally in the bunch sprints on stages 3 and 4.
OK, these races are a world away from the grime and brutality of the cobbled Classics but Girmay has been at the sharp end of things to start his season. His bigger goals – such as Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix – may lie some way in the future, but there's every chance he continues his good form in Belgium at the weekend. (DO)
Kasia Niewiadoma at Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana (Image credit: Getty Images)
Niewiadoma enjoyed the biggest season of her career last year, securing the ultimate prize in cycling with her Tour de France triumph. The Pole, though, is far more than just a stage racer, of course.
During her career, the 30-year-old Niewiadoma has been among the best Classics riders around, too. Look no further than last spring, when she won La Flèche Wallonne, placed fourth at Strade Bianche and stepped onto the podium at the Tour of Flanders.
She doesn't yet have that big cobbled Classics win on her palmarès yet but Niewiadoma is always there or thereabouts. Seven top-10 finishes at the Tour of Flanders and a second place at the Dwars door Vlaanderen speak to that.
An 18th place at the Setmana Valenciana marked a low-key start to her 2025 campaign but she'll head up a strong Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto squad, with another Classics star in new teammate Chiara Consonni also in the lineup. In an open field of contenders, Niewiadoma is certainly one to watch. (DO)
Jan Tratnik at Volta ao Algarve (Image credit: Getty Images)
Jan Tratnik will line up as the defending champion at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad after beating rival Nils Politt in a two-man sprint into Ninove last year. This time he won't be wearing the bright yellow and black of Visma-Lease a Bike but instead the more subdued white and dark blue colours of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Despite racing for a new team, Tratnik has taken a similar approach to his season, racing at Volta ao Algarve and reuniting with Primož Roglič. Although last year, he finished third overall in the Portuguese race, this year has been racing in support of teammates and he has spent much of the five-day race supporting Roglič's top position in the GC.
When he arrives in Gent, however, he will almost certainly shift into a leadership role, wearing bib no. 1 with full support from a team that includes Roger Adrià, Jonas Koch, Oier Lazkano, Mick van Dijke, Tim van Dijke and Jordi Meeus, who won a stage in Algarve. (KF)
Puck Pieterse is set to start on the road after her cyclocross season (Image credit: Getty Images)
Puck Pieterse is one of the most exciting riders in the peloton and leads a series of mountain bikers and off-road specialists, including Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Laura Stigger (SD Worx-Protime) in their successful crossover to the Women's WorldTour.
Pieterse is the reigning elite women's cross-country mountain bike world champion and last year also won a stage in and took the best young rider jersey in her debut Tour de France.
In 2024, Pieterse started her season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, finishing eighth, and then added seven more Spring Classics to her racing calendar before turning her attention back to mountain biking ahead of the Olympic Games.
This year could see her racing on the road even more with Fenix-Deceuninck, all the way to the end of April at the Ardennes Classics.
Fresh off of a successful cyclocross campaign, Pieterse brings top form into Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Its hilly terrain, cobbled sectors and notoriously cold and wet weather are also well-suited to Pieterse's style of racing, add to that her savvy technical and tactical skill, and she could secure another win in Ninove. (KF)
Jasper Philipsen at the UAE Tour (Image credit: Getty Images)
As ever, the Opening Weekend will be missing Mathieu van der Poel from its all-star lineup of cobbled Classics stars, instead leaving leadership of Alpecin-Deceuninck in the more-than-capable hands of Jasper Philipsen.
The Belgian has arguably been the top sprinter on the planet since coming away from the 2022 Tour de France with two big stage wins. Since then, he's added seven more, a green jersey, plus Milan-San Remo to his massive sprint credentials.
Alongside racking up sprint win after sprint win; Philipsen has also been evolving into a top Classics rider in his own right. The past two spring campaigns have seen him win the Classic Brugge-De Panne twice in addition to rounding out Alpecin-Deceuninck one-twos at Paris-Roubaix behind Van der Poel.
With Opening Weekend having previously marked his season debut on several occasions, he hasn't yet shown his full strength at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but with a week of racing at the UAE Tour in his legs – and two podium places to boot – he may hit the ground running this weekend. (DO)
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel, and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
