Cycling awakens - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (with results)

(image credit: Dzipi CC BY-SA 2.0)

Results below.

Today is the day - prepare for the real awakening of a new road cycling season.

Yes, we've had the Tours of Down Under, Qatar and Oman and the UCI continue in their efforts to globalise cycling, but make no mistake - the sport remains (almost) as Eurocentric as ever, and it's not truly out of hibernation before the first of the Classics. Hence the joyous feeling among cyclists everywhere this morning, for today is the day of the legendary Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Having begun in 1945 when it was organised by Flemmish newspaper Het Volk - who saw a prime opportunity to grab some public attention when rivals Het Nieuwsblad faced accusations of collaboration after continuing to run the Ronde van Vlaanderen throughout the Second World War (with the help of a few cycling-loving Nazi officers, no less) - now serves as the ideal opportunity to get a look at riders' form. The Grand Tours are still a long way off, but how each individual rider responds to the cold weather and tough cobbles of Northern Europe after spending much of the winter at training camps in balmier climes down south is always illuminating. Het Volk, incidentally, ceased publication in 2008 and was purchased lock, stock and barrel by Het Nieuwsblad, largely so as to be able to take over ownership of this very race - hence the change in the name.

(image credit: Eddy Van Laere CC BY-SA 3.0)

The parcours today is 200.3km in length and, as ever, features a number of short but extremely steep climbs, some on cobbled roads, in addition to the flat cobbled sections that can shake bikes and riders to pieces. The first is Haaghoek, 2km of rough cobbles leading straight into the 6.9% Tenbosse. Kluisberg is not as steep, but it's long and with several shorter climbs in the region it marks what for many riders is the hardest part of the race. Nearer to the end, those who have survived - unlikely to be all those who start - reach Molenberg, a climb that is less than half a kilometre in length yet, due to the mixture of asphalt and jagged cobbles and a gradient that tops 7%, one of the most notorious climbs in cycling.

Who's in with a chance? Most will agree than Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert are the most likely winners (and if Gilbert's having an off-day, keep an eye on team mate Greg Van Avermaet - he might do rather well on this parcours and has the form to match); but this early in the season - and on this parcours - quite literally anything could happen. One of the many wonderful things about this race (and several of Belgium' other major races, for that matter) is that the organisers are sufficiently enlightened as to run a Women's event too. It takes a shorter but no less challenging route 119.4km in length, featuring many of the same climbs including the Molenberg. The level of athletic performance among the Elite Women's teams is extraordinarily well-matched at present with several outfits in with a real chance of victory today, which makes predicting a winner with any hope of accuracy far harder than it is for the men's race. If Marianne were here, things would be different - likewise Emma Pooley, arguably the best female climber in the world today, but neither are. That leaves the race wide open and subject to surprise, meaning it could prove the more enthralling of the two events - which makes it even more of a pity that the television networks haven't yet caught up with the organisers and cottoned on to the fact that there's a large potential audience who would like to watch women's cycling on TV.

Live streams available from 13:00 GMT: Sports-Livez 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 (the Women's race won't be shown)

Weather: Thermometers will show around 8-9C at midday and the early afternoon, but a 10km north-westerly wind will take the edge off that and make it feel more like 5C in exposed spots. Rain is not expected anywhere along the parcours.

Parcours here

Elite Men results
(Elite Women results and brief review here)
(Detailed review of the Elite Men's race at Podium Cafe)

1 Sep VANMARCKE BEL GRM 4:52:34
2 Tom BOONEN BEL OPQ +0
3 Juan Antonio FLECHA GIANNONI ESP SKY +0
4 Heinrich HAUSSLER AUS GRM +25
5 Greg VAN AVERMAET BEL BMC +25
6 Marco MARCATO ITA VCD +25
7 Lloyd MONDORY FRA ALM +25
8 Matthieu LADAGNOUS FRA FDJ +25
9 Alexandre PICHOT FRA EUC +25
10 Staf SCHEIRLINCKX BEL ACC +25
11 John DEGENKOLB GER PRO +25
12 Luca PAOLINI ITA KAT +25
13 Maarten WYNANTS BEL RAB +25
14 Kristof GODDAERT BEL ALM +25
15 Bobbie TRAKSEL NED LAN +25
16 Sébastien TURGOT FRA EUC +25
17 Leif HOSTE BEL ACC +25
18 Oscar GATTO ITA FAR +25
19 Jelle WALLAYS BEL TSV +25
20 Frédéric AMORISON BEL LAN +25
21 Sylvain CHAVANEL FRA OPQ +25
22 Davy COMMEYNE BEL LAN +25
23 Bernhard EISEL AUT SKY +25
24 Mathew HAYMAN AUS SKY +25
25 Laurens DE VREESE BEL TSV +25
26 Ian STANNARD SKY +25
27 Christian KNEES GER SKY +25
28 Dominique ROLLIN CAN FDJ +25
29 Thor HUSHOVD NOR BMC +25
30 Matti BRESCHEL DEN RAB +36
31 Philippe GILBERT BEL BMC +41
32 Koen DE KORT NED PRO +41
33 Stijn VANDENBERGH BEL OPQ +51
34 Dries DEVENYNS BEL OPQ +51
35 Andreas KLIER GER GRM +54
36 Bram TANKINK NED RAB +59
37 Marcus BURGHARDT GER BMC +1:05
38 Alessandro BALLAN ITA BMC +1:32
39 Aleksejs SARAMOTINS LAT COF +5:22
40 Kevin HULSMANS BEL FAR +5:22
41 Laszlo BODROGI FRA TT1 +5:30
42 Ramon SINKELDAM NED PRO +5:30
43 Mirko SELVAGGI ITA VCD +5:30
44 Taylor PHINNEY USA BMC +5:30
45 Vegard Stake LAENGEN NOR TT1 +5:30
46 Vicente REYNES MIMO ESP LTB +5:30
47 Jens DEBUSSCHERE BEL LTB +5:30
48 Maxime VANTOMME BEL KAT +5:30
49 Sébastien HINAULT FRA ALM +5:30
50 Marcel SIEBERG GER LTB +5:30
51 Pieter VANSPEYBROUCK BEL TSV +5:30
52 Romain LEMARCHAND FRA ALM +5:30
53 Johan LE BON FRA BSC +5:30
54 Stijn DEVOLDER BEL VCD +5:30
55 James VANLANDSCHOOT BEL ACC +5:30
56 Tomas VAITKUS LTU GEC +5:30
57 Renaud DION FRA BSC +5:30
58 Björn LEUKEMANS BEL VCD +5:30
59 Jens KEUKELEIRE BEL GEC +5:30
60 Arnaud GERARD FRA FDJ +5:30
61 Vincent JEROME FRA EUC +5:30
62 Steve HOUANARD FRA ALM +5:30
63 Anthony GESLIN FRA FDJ +5:30
64 Angelo TULIK FRA EUC +5:30
65 Gerald CIOLEK GER OPQ +5:30
66 Frederik WILLEMS BEL LTB +5:30
67 Manuel QUINZIATO ITA BMC +5:30
68 Mickael DELAGE FRA FDJ +5:30
69 Gabriel RASCH NOR FDJ +5:30
70 Sven VANDOUSSELAERE BEL TSV +5:30
71 Bert DE WAELE BEL LAN +5:30
72 Koen BARBE BEL LAN +5:30
73 Gert STEEGMANS BEL OPQ +5:30
74 Thomas VOECKLER FRA EUC +5:30
75 Jeremy HUNT SKY +5:30
76 Christopher SUTTON AUS SKY +5:30
77 Maarten TJALLINGII NED RAB +5:30
78 Lieuwe WESTRA NED VCD +5:30
79 William BONNET FRA FDJ +5:30
80 Stijn NEIRYNCK BEL TSV +5:30
81 David VEILLEUX CAN EUC +7:45
82 Edwig CAMMAERTS BEL COF +7:45
83 Markus EICHLER GER APP +7:45
84 Evert VERBIST BEL ACC +7:45
85 Rob GORIS BEL ACC +7:45
86 Preben VAN HECKE BEL TSV +7:45
87 Frederik VEUCHELEN BEL VCD +7:45
88 Romain ZINGLE BEL COF +7:45
89 Aliaksandr KUSCHYNSKI BLR KAT +7:45
90 Jack BAUER NZL GRM +7:45
91 Baden COOKE AUS GEC +7:45
92 Dirk BELLEMAKERS NED LAN +7:45
93 Andreas SCHILLINGER GER APP +7:45
94 Guillaume BOIVIN CAN SPI +7:45
95 Jérôme BAUGNIES BEL APP +7:45
96 Michael SCHÄR SUI BMC +7:45
97 Martin ELMIGER SUI ALM +7:45
98 Paul MARTENS GER RAB +7:45
99 Maxim BELKOV RUS KAT +7:45
100 Pier Paolo DE NEGRI ITA FAR +7:45
101 Alexander KRISTOFF NOR KAT +7:45
102 Marco HALLER AUT KAT +7:45
103 Mathieu HALLEGUEN FRA BSC +7:45
104 Florian VACHON FRA BSC +7:45
105 Jean-Lou PAIANI FRA SAU +7:45
106 Manuel BELLETTI ITA ALM +7:45
107 Lars BOOM NED RAB +7:45
108 Martijn MAASKANT NED GRM +7:45
109 Ramunas NAVARDAUSKAS LTU GRM +7:45
110 Nico SIJMENS BEL COF +7:45
111 Egidijus JUODVALKIS LTU LAN +7:45
112 Carlos BARREDO LLAMAZALES ESP RAB +7:45
113 Kevin ISTA BEL ACC +12:44
114 Arnoud VAN GROEN NED ACC +12:44
115 Martijn VERSCHOOR NED TT1 +12:44
116 David BOUCHER FRA FDJ +12:44
117 Leonardo GIORDANI ITA FAR +12:44
118 Timon SEUBERT GER APP +12:44
119 Christophe LABORIE FRA SAU +12:44
120 Sander CORDEEL BEL LTB +12:44
121 Andy CAPPELLE BEL ACC +12:44