First provisional start lists for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad revealed

To be clear: this first list is an indication and far from definitive. Eight of the teams currently listed have not yet submitted any rider names: Visma | Lease a Bike, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Decathlon CMA CGM, EF Education–EasyPost, Soudal Quick-Step, Jayco AlUla and Lotto–Intermarché.

Alpecin–Premier Tech already has seven names on the list, but — like every other team — those can still change. Team leader Mathieu van der Poel said after his cyclo-cross World Championship victory that he will only make a final decision about riding the Flemish opener one week before the race, based on how he feels in training.

For now, that means he is not included — and neither is Jasper Philipsen — so Alpecin–Premier Tech are currently down (via the list published by Flanders Classics/FirstCycling) with riders including Kaden Groves and Edward Planckaert.

Other well-known names on the provisional list include Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (NSN), defending winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X), Alberto Bettiol, Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello–Q36.5) and Lukáš Kubiš of Unibet ROSE Rockets.

On the women’s side, the name that stands out is Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ). The Dutch rider has not yet officially communicated her road-season opener, but it now looks as if she will start the season on 28 February in Gent, at ‘t Kuipke, for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.