Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (HC)
formerly Omloop Het Volk

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The race:

The Omloop Het Volk bicycle race was originally organized by the Het Volk newspaper as a competitive move against the Het Nieuwsblad's very popular Ronde Van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders). When the Het Volk newspaper was taken over by Het Nieuwsblad, the new owners also renamed the race.

The Het Nieuwsblad is first important race on the Belgian racing calender, held on a Saturday at the end of February or the beginning of March. In 1986 and 2004 the race was cancelled because of snow. The 1960 edition was cancelled because of a disagreement between the race organizers and the UCI.

Het Nieuwsblad is a Belgian affair, with few foreign winners.

Fausto Coppi made an illegal wheel change in 1948 and was disqualified.

The general agreement is that seven races constitute the Classics: Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem, Paris-Roubaix, Flèche Wallone, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy. Some writers include the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Amstel Gold, Rund und den Henniger Turm, Paris-Brussels and Paris-Tours, but these races are usually regarded as "Semi-Classics": important, but not having the full prestige of the big seven.

The route generally starts and ends in Ghent and, like the Tour of Flanders, it features short sharp cobbled climbs.

We have complete results for every edition. Just click on the year to see more.