{"id":449317,"date":"2026-02-27T23:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/449317\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T23:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:47:09","slug":"i-expect-a-real-spectacle-harsh-conditions-on-the-weather-forecast-for-omloop-het-nieuwsblad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/449317\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I expect a real spectacle’ \u2013 Harsh conditions on the weather forecast for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad"},"content":{"rendered":"

The modern Omloop Het Nieuwsblad<\/a> is a race that, just as much as the hills and cobbles, can be defined by the weather, and more specifically, the wind.<\/p>\n

In recent years, we’ve seen long-range solo breakaway victories, and we’ve seen almost full-on bunch sprints. What kind of racing we’re going to get on Saturday depends to a significant extent on which way the wind is blowing and how strongly it’s blowing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The good news for fans of open, attacking racing is that Flanders is forecast to receive a brisk south-westerly, which crucially would make for a tailwind finale.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

The final climbs of both the men’s and women’s Omloops are the Muur Van Geraardsbergen<\/a> and Bosberg, the latter of which tops out over 10km from the line in Ninove. The route from the Bosberg runs in a north-easterly direction until the final 5km, when it turns a little more to the north.<\/p>\n

Some recent editions have seen headwinds that have stifled attacks and even brought a bunch back together on the run-in, such as when Davide Ballerini won the men’s race in 2021<\/a>. A decent tailwind, however, gives the splits and selections that may have occurred over the Muur and Bosberg \u2013 and indeed before that \u2013 a much greater chance of staying away.<\/p>\n

The forecasts suggest winds of 30kph blowing from the southwest, with gusts much stronger. What’s more, there’s a high chance of rain in the afternoon, which makes things that little bit tougher, especially when it comes to grip on the cobblestones.<\/p>\n

Temperatures are in the single digits, but the high single digits, so not the Arctic conditions we’ve seen at Opening Weekend over the years.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

“Those who thought it would be a beautiful ride will be disappointed,” local weather expert Frank Deboosere told Het Nieuwsblad.<\/p>\n

“It will take a strong Flandrian to triumph in Ninove. I expect a real spectacle.”<\/p>\n

Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics<\/a> coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We’ll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Find out more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The modern Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is a race that, just as much as the hills and cobbles, can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-449317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}