The 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad women’s race saw Lotte Claes (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) sprint to vicotry ahead of Aurela Nerlo (Winspace Orange Seal) after the duo had been away for most of the 137.9km race.
More than three minutes later, Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) arrived after having escaped from the peloton on the Muur van Geraardsbergen, with Vollering outsprinting Pieterse for third. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) brought home the peloton in ten seconds later to take fifth place.
The race unfolded with unexpected drama and showcased the unpredictable nature of the early-season spring classics when Claes, Nerlo, Mieke Docx, Elena Pirrone, and Julie Stockman slipped away in the early kilometers and built up a lead that swelled to more than 13 minutes at one point.
With 50km to go, Stockman was dropped and the lead group forged ahead with 4 riders. Back in the peloton there was a lack coordination among the top teams to bring back the breakaway. Many riders explained afterwards that their sport directors had directed them not to work, but instead, force the other teams to bring back the breakaway. The consequence of this strategy, which was primarily being tested by the two big rivals, FDJ-SUEZ and SD Worx-Protime, was that other teams saw what was happening and decided to do the same – refuse to work.
With 20km to go, the gap of the breakaway was more than six minutes, and the realization that the top two places were gone finally began to sink in with the peloton. As the race neared its climax, Claes and Nerlo distanced themselves from their breakaway companions on the Muur van Geraardsbergen, still maintaining a healthy lead over the pursuing peloton, which was now chasing Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse, who had escaped over the Muur van Geraardsbergen.
As the final kilometers wound down, Claes and Nerlo had plenty of time to play cat-and-mouse as they set up for the sprint. In the end, it was Nerlo who took the lead position and attempted to force a long sprint with a little less than 1 kilometer to go. At one point it looked like Nerlo’s strategy might work as Claes struggled to stay on Nerlo’s wheel, but in the final 100 meters Nerlo faded and Claes began her sprint and easily came around Nerlo to win by several bike lengths.
Vollering and Pieterse came in next more than three minutes down, with Vollering taking the sprint easily from Pieterse who looked like she had very little left.
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