Wout van Aert has begun his season on the right foot, swinging a brilliant win at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad after an agressive race where Jumbo-Visma took a much deserved win. The Belgian attacked the race more than once, but before the Bosberg he launched a deadly move that could not be shut down by anyone.
The early breakaway consisted of Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost), Juri Hollmann (Movistar Team), Alexander Konychev (Team BikeExchange - Jayco), Quentin Jauregui (B&B Hotels - KTM), Ruben Apers (Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise), Donavan Grondin (Team Arkéa Samsic) and Morten Hulgaard (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team). Despite easily reaching a lead of 8 minutes, they were never a threat to a peloton that gave little resistance, but quickly nullified that gap once inside the cobbled sectors.
The likes of Magnus Sheffield and Philippe Gilbert made moves in the early crucial sectors, but the first dangerous attack came with 49 kilometers to go as Stefan Kung attacked in the Jagerij and joined up with Florian Vermeersch and Loic Vliegen who had a gap, and then with the breakaway. Jumbo-Visma and Quickstep controlled the peloton which had seen several crashes and intense fights for positioning.
On the Berendries the race exploded. With 29 kilometers to go Tiesj Benoot launched an offensive off the front of the peloton followed by Jhonatan Narvaez, Tom Pidcock and Wout van Aert, with Sonny Colbrelli bridging across after. The quintet joined forces with the group that was in front as Quick-Step were now the main team chasing, with UAE and Trek also putting in some work having missed the move.
Tiesj Benoot went solo just before the Muur de Geraardsbergen with the leading group caught by the peloton. As everything got back together at the top, Wout van Aert attacked before the Bosberg and with no answer from the peloton. He built a gap and kept it right until the finish with an impressive performance holding off the chasing group. Sonny Colbrelli and Greg van Avermaet were the fastest out of it and filled up the podium.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
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🇧🇪@WoutvanAert of 🇳🇱@JumboVismaRoad wins 🇧🇪@OmloopHNB #OHN22 (📺@sporza)
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