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Lotte Claes (Arkea-B&B Hotels) won the women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, outsprinting Aurela Nerlo (Winspace Orange Seal) in the streets of Ninove after a day-long breakaway. Over three minutes behind, Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) beat Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) in the spꦡrint for third, just ahead of what remained of the peloton.

Claes and Nerlo had been part of a break of fiv❀e that went away in the first ten kilometres. Julie Stockman (DD Group) was dropped from the break, but Claes, Nerlo, Elena Pirrone (Roland) and Mieke Docx were sti💝ll more than 13 minutes ahead with 50km to go.

Although the big teams took up the chase eventually, the four riders started the Muur van Geraardsbergen with six minutes in hand. Claes and Nerlo left Pirrone an💛d Docx behind on the cobbled climb, cresting the top 4:37 minutes ahead of Vollering aﷺnd Pieterse, who had attacked from the peloton.

Still four minutes ahead atop the Bosberg, it was clear that Claes and Nerlo would fight for the victory. Claes tried an attack out of the left turn in Denderwindeke with 4.5km to go, but Nerlo could hold her wheel.

The Polish rider then made her own acceleration just before the flamme rouge and had Claes gapped, but the 31-year-old ☂Belgian made her way back with 250 meters to go and then launch🐼ed her sprint to win.

"It’s really unbelievable. It’s only my second pro year. Before that, I combined it with working in a hospital as a nurse. So I hope it’s a step towards a bright future," said Claes after taking her first pro victory.

"We were here with ambitions, but since the race usually ends in a sprint, my role was to help our sprinters. But I am very happy that they gave us such a big advantage. After the Berendries, I thought, 'OK, we have to stay together and work together well until the Muur, and from then on, just set a high pace and make a time trial of it.'

"I don’t have fast legs, but after a hard race, I often have something left. The other girl started quite early, which was to her advantage🍨 because she is a bit more explosive. She can get going really quickly. I don’t have that explosiveness, and I was hurtin🌟g everywhere. But then she couldn’t keep it up, and I managed to get back with one big push."

How it unfolded

The break of the day – and, as it turned out, the winning break – had form🎃ed very early in the 137.9km race. Valerie Demey (VolkerWessels) and Andrea Casagranda (BePink-Imatra-Bongioanni) went on the chase and were eventually joined by Casagranda’s teammate Beatrice Caudera as well as Giulia Giuliani (Roland).

Halfway through the race, Casagranda had been dropped from the chase group while the other three riꦫders were over four minutes down on Pirrone, Claes, Nerlo, Stockman, and Docx. The peloton was mo🏅re than nine minutes behind at that point.

With nobody taking responsibility for the chase, the gap ballooned even further, and when the live broa𒆙dcast began on the cobbles of the Haaghoek with 38km to go, the breakaway of Claes, Nerlo, Pirrone, and Docx was still almost 11 minutes in front.

FDJ-Suez eventually took up the gauntlet and slotted into position at the front of the peloton, with AG Insurance-Soudal, Fenix-Deceuninck, SD Worx-Protime, EF Education-Oatly, and Lidl-Trek also joining in. They caught the chasers and reduced the gap to about six minutes as they en🥃tered Geraardsbergen.

Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez) set a high pace on the Vesten and handed over to Vollering on the steepest 🧸part of the Muur. Only Pieterse could follow the Dutchwoman’s acceleration, with other riders following in ones and twos. At the top of the iconic climb, though, Vollering and Pieterse were still 4:37 minutes down on Claes and Nerlo.

Although they caught and dropped Pirrone and Docx in the final, the victory w𒀰as decided between Claes and Nerlo, with a happy ending for the Belgian. Vollering outsprinted Pieterse for third place, 3:25 minutes behind, with Lജorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) leading home the peloton ten seconds later.

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