'For Belgians, it's the first real race of the season' - Thomas De Gendt on why Omloop Het Nieuwsblad matters so much

Thomas De Gendt is writing a regular column for Cyclingnews.

In Belgium, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the next biggest Classic after the Tour of Flanders, but simply because it's the first one of the year.

Everybody is very eager to watch this race on TV, and it helps, too, that back in the day, Omloop used to be the first bike race for all the big names, so everybody was excited about how their favourite rider was going to perform.