Norway's Soren Waerenskjold won the season opening Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Belgian cycling classic on Saturday when the 197km race over 11 hills came down to a bunch sprint.
🥇 Bahar Klasikleri’nde açılışı Soren Waerenskjold yaptı!
— Eurosport TR (@Eurosport_TR) March 1, 2025
🥈 Paul Magnier
🥉 Jasper Philipsen#OHN25 pic.twitter.com/LHdyU5bcOZ
The 24-year-old had been entirely under the radar but beat off Jasper Philipsen and needed a photo-finish to get ahead of Quick-Step's French tyro Paul Magnier, with Philipsen third.
Pre-race favourite Wout Van Aert of the Visma team finished in 11th but was unable to produce a sprint to rival the strong finishing Waerenskjold.
Van Aert, who registered the same time as the winner on a day featuring 35kph winds, can try his luck again Sunday at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Norwegian thunder! 🇳🇴 Soren Wærenskjold sprints to glory! 🏆#OHN25 #OHNmen pic.twitter.com/NiIUK96mFU
— Omloop Nieuwsblad (@OmloopHNB) March 1, 2025
The East Flanders classic named after the Belgian newspapar Het Nieuwsblad was won in the past three years by Visma, with last year's champion Jan Tratnik now with Bora getting caught out in a split Saturday.
A seven-rider break made up of minor figures took a lead of over five minutes as the peloton rushed out of Gent towards Ninove along a route scattered with cobbled sections.