Opening Weekend annually kicks off the traditional Spring Classics campaign with a bang at the men's and women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad held on Saturday, followed by Sunday's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne for men and the women's Omloop van het Hageland during the last weekend in February.
The collection of races is also widely known as the gateway to the Belgian cycling season because it raises the curtain on one-day events that range from 1.1, Pro Series and WorldTour.
As part of the modern top-tier calendar of professional bike racing, the peloton will have already competed across warmer climates at Australia's Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, in the Middle East at the UAE Tour, along with lower categorized races across southern Europe for the Mallorca Challenge, Volta ao Algarve and Ruta del Sol, and in South America at the Tour Colombia.
Opening Weekend thus marks the peloton's first foray into the oftentimes cold, wet, and windy late-winter weather for which Belgium is so well known and offers a taste of what's to come in the bigger one-day races over the following two months.
It is also during Opening Weekend that riders and teams test out the lay of the land and a chance to gauge each other's form, team cohesion, and new equipment across Belgium's famous cobbled terrain.
Overall, the traditional Opening Weekend in Belgium is what will set the tone for the upcoming major Spring Classics and give us all a glimpse into what we can expect at the WorldTour races to follow in Belgium, at races like the Classic Brugge-De Panne, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders. It's also a good forecast for the Spring Classics held in other nations such as Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo in Italy and Paris-Roubaix in France.
Opening Weekend might not tell us everything we need to know, but it is the perfect place to start the narratives that will unfold during the rest of the one-day races held across March and April.
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Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Men
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad men's event celebrates its 79th edition in 2024, held from Gent to Ninove.
The electrifying feeling in Gent on the morning of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is palpable as riders, teams, and fans anticipate the opener to one of the greatest blocks of one-day racing during cycling season.
The one-day race brings the peloton into the heart of the Flemish Ardennes, and many will recognise the same cobble sectors and bergs, such as the Berendries, Elverenberg and the famous Muur van Geraardsbergen-Kapelmuur and Bosberg, as the Tour of Flanders.
The event was first held in 1945 as Omloop van Vlaanderen, but changed names because it was considered to be too close to the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders).
In 1947, the race was renamed after the Flemish newspaper Het Volk and thus called Omloop Het Volk; however, the merging of newspaper companies in 2008 meant the race was again renamed after the Flemish daily, Het Nieuwsblad.
Jean Bogaerts was the first winner in 1945, and Belgians have gone on to dominate the race, with only 20 winners from outside the home nation. Three Belgians - Ernest Sterckx, Joseph Bruyère, and Peter Van Petegem - hold the joint record of three victories.
Since its inception, three editions have been missed - 1960, 1986, and 2004 - largely due to the wintery conditions in Belgium in February.
The event joined the WorldTour calendar in 2017.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Women
The women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has a much shorter history, having joined the calendar in 2006 with Suzanne de Goede, who won again in 2009. It celebrates its 19th edition in 2024 and will be held from Gent to Ninove.
The one-day race has seen a host of champions on the top step of the podium, including Mie Lacota, Kirsten Wild, Emma Johansson (twice), Loes Gunnewijk, Tiffany Cromwell, Amy Pieters, Anna van der Breggen (twice), Lizzie Deignan, Lucinda Brand, Christina Siggaard, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Annemiek van Vleuten (twice) and Lotte Kopecky.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Women's race route traditionally includes five cobbled sectors and nine climbs, including the final two ascents over the Muur-Kapelmuur and the Bosberg before the finish in Ninove, making it one of the more challenging routes of the Spring Classics.
The race has been a prestigious part of the international calendar but only joined the Women's WorldTour in 2023. It was part of organisers Flanders Classics' plan for women's equality called Closing the Gap.
The organisation oversees six of the most popular Spring Classics: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour of Flanders, Scheldeprijs and Brabantse Pijl.
The plan aimed to create equality across all six women's and men's Spring Classics in three main areas: live TV coverage, classification on the international calendar and prize money.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne is a popular one-day race that celebrates in 79th edition in 2024, held from Kortrijk to Kuurne, and it serves as the second race of the Opening Weekend in Belgium.
The route includes climbs over Tiegemberg, Volkegemberg, Lepelstraat, Bossenaarstraat, Berg Ten Houte, La Houppe, Hameau des Papins, Le Bourliquet, Mont Saint Laurent, before getting into the late race succession of the Kruisberg, Hotond, Côte du Trieu and one last climb over the Kluisberg before the run-in to the entrance of the finish circuits in Kortrijk and the finish line in Kuurne.
The event is annually held the day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with the first winner, Belgian Henri Delmuylle, in 1946. Since then, Belgians have won the majority of the editions of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, with Tom Boonen earning a record three wins in 2007, 2009 and 2014.
The race is not part of the WorldTour; instead, it has sat on the Pro Series calendar since 2019.
Omloop van het Hageland
Opening Weekend is a two-race show on the women's calendar as well, beginning at the top-tier Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite Women, followed by Omloop van het Hageland.
Omloop van het Hageland is a 1.1-level race and starts in Aarschot with a finish in Tielt-Winge. The race celebrates its 19th edition in 2024.
Ludivine Henrion won the inaugural edition in 2005. The race was held as a criterium prior to the 2011 edition called Tielt-Winge.
Former champions also include Emma Johansson, Lizzie Deignan, Jolien D'Hoore, Marta Bastianelli, Ellen van Dijk, and Lorena Wiebes.
Bastianelli has won the event a record three times in 2016, 2019, and 2022. The recent route includes several large circuits through Tielt-Winge and held on flat cobbled sectors along with repeat ascents of the Roeselberg.
