Ladies Countdown to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Katrijn De Clercq looks ahead

Cobblestones, hills and a battle of man against man - or in this case woman against woman - are the ingredients for a cycling spring to look forward to. For Katrijn, the classic spring can't start soon enough: “I'm really looking forward to it. It took long enough (laughs).”

The opening classic constitutes the first real showdown of the season. Who has come out of the winter strong? Who is making an immediate impression? “The cards are shuffled again and it remains to be seen where everyone stands. During the recon I saw that everyone is in good shape, but only in the race will we see how things really are,” said de Clercq. “With the team we have , I think we can put on a solid performance. The atmosphere is very good and I have the feeling that we will quickly find a good collaboration —something that isn’t always a given at the start of the season

Molenberg, Haaghoek and Berendries are just some of the sharpshooters awaiting the peloton. But where will the decisive move happen? "The first real acceleration usually comes on the Molenberg, but things can settle again before the Haaghoek,” De Clercq explains. “I expect the race to explode on the Berendries, but if not, the Muur van Geraardsbergen will be the ultimate breaking point.

After the famous Muur-Bosberg duo, twelve more flat kilometers await us towards Ninove, where, after a good four hours of racing, we’ll find out who claims the first Classic of the season.

Photo: Brecht Steenhouwer