After the Omloop, write up Küng and Vacek for what's to come: "This is how I want to race all spring"

There were maybe only a handful of riders in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad who truly tried to force something when the headwind in the finale made it seem like everything would end in a sprint. In the absolute final moments, Mathias Vacek stood on the pedals on the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg, while Stefan Küng launched an impressive attack on the flat. However, neither of them reaped any results.

Søren Wærenskjold was ultimately the surprising winner, something Vacek hadn't seen coming. "It was a great race, although I expected it to be a bit tougher. Despite that, I enjoyed it and had good legs, which is why I tried to break things up or at least put pressure on the sprinters. But it wasn't a very active race since many teams had a sprinter."

The young Czech rider from Lidl-Trek, who was one of the team leaders in the Omloop, couldn't make a difference in the key moments where he boldly attacked first. "The sprint teams didn’t want to go full gas on the climbs, and although I gave it a shot, everything kept coming back together. Because of my efforts, I maybe didn’t have the legs I wanted for the sprint," he laughed in an interview with Eurosport.

Read more below the video

Küng kept pushing, but against better judgment

Küng’s attack did create a gap. For a brief moment, the Swiss rider from Groupama-FDJ had around 17 seconds, but Visma | Lease a Bike, EF Education-EasyPost, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Intermarché-Wanty, and several sprint teams were chasing him down. "In the finale, I knew it was my moment, and when I attacked, I found myself alone. With the headwind, it was tough to go solo, but I kept believing and pushing. Unfortunately, the race was one kilometer too long."

All those sprint teams only reeled Küng in with 1.3 kilometers to go. "The race only really opened up after 140 kilometers, but the wind had already blocked a lot of attacks by then. After the Bosberg, many riders came back, allowing them to chase me down. That makes it tough, but I knew this was my only chance. This is how I want to race all spring—it worked well. I’m on the right track."

Read also

"Not a blame game, but the start of misery" – Visma | Lease a Bike seeks answers after Omloop

Van Aert? Philipsen? No, powerful Uno-X Norwegian shocks Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with stunning sprint

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