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 a ...

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

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 holds significant pre ...

and was the fourth event of the

2017 UCI World Tour The 2017 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road bicycle racing, road cycling events throughout the 2017 in men's road cycling, 2017 men's cycling season. It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by the Un ...

. 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 retired Belgian professional cyclist. Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet was a specialist of the classic cycle races, but has also won stages and the general cla ...

(), ahead of the reigning world champion

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak former professional cyclist who competed in road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-c ...

– riding for – and 's

Sep Vanmarcke Sep Vanmarcke (born 27 July 1988) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2023 for , , , (over two spells), and , before being forced to retire from the sport for medical reasons. During his ...

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 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 annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

, 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 bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

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 velodrome – for the 2016 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 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 (river), Lys. Emile was the twe ...

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 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 Eas ...

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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

February 2017 sports events in Europe