Experts pin the blame for stalemate at women's Omloop on team sport directors: "There is still so much friction between those teams"
Cycling
Tactical disasterclass at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad WE. No nice words can justify the failure to find common language between the teams of two outright favorites. While FDJ - Suez ultimately broke the stalemate and tried to fix at least some of the damage, the SD Worx - Protime ladies may have as well not sent a team to Belgium as not only the breakaway, but later also Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse slipped through their fingers.
The tactical battle continued in post-race comments, when riders of involved teams blamed one another for not taking on the responsibility, but refusing to do any work themselves. At the end of the day, only winner Lotte Claes and runner-up Aurela Nerlo will most likely be the only ones smiling about today's race.
Against all logic
"This is not possible," Sven Vanthourenhout fumes at Sporza. "This really goes against all logic. If you name the top favorites for this race in advance, you end up with Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes. Then those teams should take their responsibility in the race, but that is not happening. No, the gap is even increasing to thirteen minutes! That really must not happen."
According to Sep Vanmarcke, the ultimate responsibility lies with the sports directors. "The ego of the sports directors has spoken. Both FDJ - Suez and SD Worx - Protime did not take responsibility, which caused them to lose each other."
Marijn De Vries later added: "There is still so much friction between those teams, with Lars Boom who is now team leader at FDJ - Suez and everything that happened around Vollering..."
Despite the course of the race, the analysts are very positive about winner Lotte Claes. "She is a really good rider. Maybe she wouldn't have won the Omloop if she had ridden with the favorites, but she can really cycle very fast. She was already sixteenth at the Tour de France Femmes, then you can really do something."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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