Astana's astute tactics pay off
T he most aggressive rider in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was Lotto Soudal’s Tim Wellens. The strongest was Sep Vanmarcke, of EF-Drapac. The most diligent chasers-down of other riders’ attacks were Quick-Step’s Ždenek Štybar and Ag2r La Mondiale’s Oliver Naesen. If there was a prize for the most consistent rider across these three disciplines, a kind of Omloop version of the Tour de France’s 1980s combine jersey, it might have been given to BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet. However, this is cycling, and only one result really counts. The winner of the 2018 Omloop was Michael Valgren, whose team, Astana, sat back while the above riders attacked, chased, relented, attacked, chased and relented, then did one really important thing: put three riders into the break of 12 that went clear over the Muur van Geraardsbergen.
Astana’s numerical superiority from there to the finish was a huge advantage. It meant they could control the attacks of others (though Naesen and Stybar mostly – inadvisedly – took care of this) and also that they could take turns in attacking, especially as one of the three, Oscar Gatto, is a handy sprinter. Alexey Lutsenko had a go, then Valgren, and then, again, Valgren. The last time, nobody chased, and that was that. Astana had not been the most visible team during the race – they first emerged at the front on the final descent into Geraardsbergen but they were there for the 20 minutes that counted.
The 2018 Omloop was an unusual, uncertain race. The peloton had to find its way around a new parcours, albeit one familiar from previous editions of the Tour of Flanders. The Gent-Gent structure was ripped up in favour of a new set of loops based around the Leberg climb, tackled three times, before heading east towards Brakel, Geraardsbergen for the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg climbs and the finish in Ninove. A strong wind blew from the east, and this, more than anything, dampened the ambition of attacking riders and neutralized the midrace climbs. Normally the quick succession of the Wolvenberg, Molenberg, Leberg, Berendries and Valkenberg, which all appeared between 60 and 30 kilometres to go, would have smashed the field to pieces. As it was, groups couldn’t quite make the headway to get a gap.
The most likely-looking move was formed from two groups of six, which chiseled out a lead just after the Molenberg, then came together soon afterwards. It contained many of the favourites – Štybar, Naesen, Arnaud Démare and Michael Matthews – but the peloton was too committed to let it go. Van Avermaet went on Berendries, but when this attack was neutralised, Tiesj Benoot went away on his own just before the Valkenberg. He was allowed a gap of 30 seconds, but no more, and as Astana massed on the front on the sweeping road east to Geraardsbergen, it became clear that it would come down to the Muur. On the famous climb, Vanmarcke
dropped everybody, with tybar the only rider close enough to catch him on the descent. But the Astanamarshalled group of nine, who were next on the road, made short work of catching the duo. There were at least three very fast finishers in the group: Mitchelton’s Matteo Trentin, Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain and Gatto. The strongmen, Classics contenders like Naesen, Van Avermaet, tybar and Vanmarcke, had nowhere to go, and made matters worse by doing the chasing work that should have been left to Astana. When Valgren made his move, Trentin tried to chase, but with Gatto on his wheel, he relented. As soon as the gap went out, the race was over.