Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne will kickstart the 2023 Classics Season

The 2023 cobbled classics season kicks off the weekend of February 25-26 in Belgium, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on the Saturday and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on the Sunday

The 78th edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad takes place on Saturday 25 February. The race marks the opening of the Belgian cycling calendar and features a lot of climbs from the Tour of Flanders. The Wall of Geraardsbergen/Bosberg combo marked the finale of the last editions. At approximately 200 kilometres, the Omloop is the first race in the Flemish Opening Weekend – the other one being Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

The route is not yet known for the 2023 race but it does usually take on brutal cobbled climbs such as the famour Muur van Geraardsbergen, kicking off the northern Europe season in style.

The race features thirteen tough climbs between the start in Ghent and the finish in Ninove, each getting harder as the race went on and the kilometres started to add up. With nine cobblestone sections adding to the difficulty, and some of these ridden twice, this 201km parcours will hit the riders hard.

Last year in 2022, the Flemish powerhouse Wout van Aert soloed to victory ahead of Sonny Colbrelli and Greg Van Avermaet sprinted to second and third place.

A brilliant attack from the pack from Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo–Visma) saw him leave his rivals in his dust and win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the opening classics race, for the first time.