4 riders who could take a maiden cobbles victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
For the puritans among cycling fans, the season officially begins with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The pre-season 'friendly' races are all but done and attention is turned to the spring one-day and stage races. We were expecting bright, warm conditions after the summery spell at the beginning of the week. But the weather has all of a sudden remembered it's supposed to be cold and wet for the Classics season, and has so graciously reduced to an acceptable temperature just in time for the Opening Weekend - not to mention an expected westerly headwind all day. 14 bergs over 200km are in store for the peloton on Saturday - the last two being the famous Muur-Bosberg duo that used to form the finale of the Tour of Flanders - before a new finish in Ninove: a couple of kilometres away from the 2018 finish in Meerbeke. In spite of a stacked roster of former winners and Classics specialists due to take to the start line in Merelbeke, here are four riders who could make their spr