Last year's Omloop champion Jan Tratnik shares advice with new challengers: "You must never give up in Belgium"
Cycling
That was Team Visma | Lease a Bike, the best team of 2023, started the 2024 spring campaign with a victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad? Wout Van Aert, Christophe Laporte or Dylan van Baarle winning wouldn't shock anyone, but Jan Tratnik? Yes, that was a proper surprise. The Slovenian changed colours after the season, but he'll still pull up to the start in Ghent with number 1 pinned on his back.
"After 100 kilometers, I thought the race was over," recalls Jan in an interview on Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe website. The key sectors of Omloop were still up ahead, but the Slovenian was already caught far off the front. "Strong crosswinds had torn the field apart. All the favorites were at the front, Visma was represented by five men. I wasn't there. Basically, everything was done."
But that's how it is with the cobbled classics: nothing is decided until the finish line is crossed. "I was in the second group and just kept fighting to always get over the hills with the first riders. And then we actually closed the gap to the break again."
With just 20 kilometers left to go, another wave of attacks split the peloton. However none did stick and so everything was together after the final ascent of Bosberg. That's when Jan Tratnik took his chance a drove away from peloton on the other side of the road. Only Nils Politt reacted.
"I went eight kilometers before the finish. I turned around - and the group was standing still. That was the moment when I realized: this can work."
At the end, Politt seemed to not really have the legs to sprint anymore and so Tratnik rolled towards his big victory: "When I crossed the finish line, it was one of the best moments of my career. Friends from Slovenia were there, celebrating me - an incredible feeling."
But it's not just the memories of that day that remain, but also a valuable lesson: "You must never give up in Belgium. There are 100 ways a race can turn around - even if you're a long way behind."
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