The 2017 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was a

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws as ...

one-day race that took place on 25 February 2017. It was the 72nd edition of the

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and ...

and was the fourth event of the

2017 UCI World Tour The 2017 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road cycling events throughout the 2017 men's cycling season. It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The ...

. It was the first time that the race was included in the UCI World Tour calendar. The race was won, from a three-up sprint finish, by

Greg Van Avermaet Greg Van Avermaet (born 17 May 1985) is a Belgian professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet is a specialist of the classic cycle races, but has also ...

(), ahead of the reigning world champion

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-country race at the 2008 ...

– riding for – and 's

Sep Vanmarcke Sep Vanmarcke (born 27 July 1988) is a Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . In August 2021 he was named to the start list for the Vuelta a España, his seventh Grand Tour. Career Vanmarcke was born i ...

completed the podium, after the three riders broke away from the field in the final quarter of the race.

Teams

As a new event to the

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an ann ...

, all

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

s were invited to the race, but not obligated to compete in the race. As such, fifteen of the eighteen WorldTeams – all except , and – competed in the race. Ten UCI Professional Continental teams competed, completing the 25-team peloton.

Route

After a forced relocation from Sint-Pietersplein to the – the site adjacent to the

Kuipke Kuipke or Citadel Park Velodrome is an indoor velodrome in Ghent, Belgium. It opened in 1927 and was rebuilt after a fire in 1965. It is best known from the Six Days of Ghent, held annually in November. The velodrome is also used as an event hal ...

velodrome – for the

2016 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad The 71st edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was held on 27 February 2016. It was won by Belgian Greg Van Avermaet in a five-man sprint before Peter Sagan and Tiesj Benoot. The race started and finished in Ghent, Belgium, covering 200.8 km ...

, the Citadel Park again hosted the start of the race. The finish was once again held on the

Emile Claus Emile Claus (27 September 1849 – 14 June 1924) was a Belgian painter. Life Emile Claus was born on 27 September 1849, in Sint-Eloois-Vijve, a village in West Flanders (Belgium), at the banks of the river Lys. Emile was the twelfth child i ...

thoroughfare, close to the starting place. At and with thirteen climbs in the ''hill zone'', the course was challenging and arduous. Additionally, there were several flat stretches of cobbles. After a year's hiatus due to roadworks, the

Molenberg Molenberg (literally Millhill) is a former mining colony in the south-western part of Heerlen, southeastern Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , sub ...

returned to the race for its 2017 edition; the

Eikenberg The Eikenberg (English: ''Oak Hill'') is a hill and road in the municipality of Maarkedal, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. With an 82 m altitude top, it is one of many hill formations in the Flemish Ardennes, in the south of East ...

was also partially paved for the 2017 race.

Categorised climbs and cobbles

Result

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 2017 2017 UCI World Tour 2017 in Belgian sport

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

February 2017 sports events in Europe