The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is a race that is usually won by a solo rider or is decided by a sprint from a small group of several riders. However, this year, the good weather and the race conditions contributed to a comparatively large group of over 50 riders that contested the final sprint. Deceuninck–Quick-Step led from the front as their lead-out train, including current World Road Race champion Julian Alaphilippe, tried to set up in-form sprinter Davide Ballerini for the win. In the ensuing sprint, Ballerini won easily, having not been troubled by any of the other sprinters. Behind him, neo-pro Jake Stewart slipped past 2012 winner Sep Vanmarcke along the barriers to take second. For his part, Vanmarcke held off Heinrich Haussler with the bike throw on the line to secure third, that being the former's third third-place result in the race after back-to-back third places in 2017 and 2018.[2]
Teams
Twenty-five teams participated in the race, including all nineteen UCI WorldTour teams and six UCI ProTeams. Each team entered seven riders for a total of 175 riders, of which 140 finished.[3][4]