The primary race of the opening weekend of the Belgian Spring Classics comes with the 207.3-kilometre lengthy Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. For 2023, the race begins in Gent and ends in Ninove, with riders going through 12 steep climbs and 9 cobbled sections.
Within the first hour of racing, riders cross the cobbles of the Haaghoek at kilometre 36.2 carefully adopted by the primary ‘berg’, the Leberg after 39.2km. However after these two difficulties, there’s a 54km stretch of the route cobbles and berg-free.
The Lange Munte part of cobbles returns at kilometre 93.2 whereas Molenberg additionally makes a comeback at kilometre 166.1 after being omitted final 12 months due to highway works.
The crunch time comes at kilometre 191.6 when the race hits the Muur-Kapelmuur – an iconic climb beforehand used within the Tour of Flanders – then crests the Bosberg with 11km to go.
It was right here in 2022 that Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) made the race-winning transfer simply earlier than the Bosberg after which held off a chase group, led to the road by Sonny Colbrelli and Greg Van Avermaet.
The race will get a brand new end line for 2023, with the organisers transferring it to Elisabethlaan a wider and extra uphill dash than final 12 months’s course that ended on the Onderwijslaan.
The cobbles
- Haaghoek (36.2km)
- Lange Munte (93.2km)
- Holleweg (109.5km)
- Haaghoek (115.2km)
- Paddestraat (124.4km)
- Holleweg (151.1km)
- Kerkgate (157.3km)
- Jagerij (159.9km)
- Haaghoek (170.6km)
The climbs
- Leberg (39.2km)
- Kattenberg (108.7km)
- Leberg (118.3km)
- Hostellerie (135.3km)
- Valkenberg (143.2km)
- Wolvenberg (153.7km)
- Molenberg (166.1km)
- Leberg (173.6km)
- Berendries (177.7km)
- Elverenberg Vossenhol (180.1km)
- Muur-Kappelmuur (191.6km)
- Bosberg (195.5km)
