'Somebody should go!' - Daniel Lloyd astounded by Wout van Aert decision at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Published 26/02/2022 at 20:03 GMT

"If the Belgian champion and the best rider in the world suddenly goes, somebody should go." Eurosport's Daniel Lloyd and Adam Blythe could hardly believe it as nobody followed Wout van Aert as he broke away to take his first victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Van Aert produced a masterful breakaway after the Bosberg and soloed his way to glory.

'Somebody should go!' - Lloyd astounded by Van Aert decision at Omloop

Wout van Aert won the Omloop for the first time on Saturday in his first competitive road race of the season.

After an incredibly cagey first 100 miles, Team Jumbo-Visma and Van Aert took control, reeling in the breakaway. And after his teammates and rivals helped carry him to the foot of the Bosberg, Van Aert made his decisive move.

But curiously, nobody tried to go with the Belgian as he powered away, and he forged a 20-second lead solo to victory.

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And on the Breakaway, Daniel Lloyd could hardly believe his eyes as he watched the world’s best rider break uncontested.

“A group at the front had come together with a larger group at the back, and at that point it’s often a bit coy,” recounted Lloyd after the race.

“People think ‘well, I’m really tired’ and others are looking around and assessing the situation.

“But if the Belgian champion and the best rider in the world suddenly goes, somebody should go. It doesn’t matter who it is.

“You can’t look at each other and think, ‘we will chase him back down towards the end, he should be easy to catch’, because he’s not gonna be easy to catch, even if it is his first race of the season.

“Everyone just looked at each other - and as much as we didn’t want to say it in commentary - it’s really unlikely you’ll be able to chase Van Aert back down because he’s just that powerful."

And former professional road and track cyclist Adam Blythe echoed Lloyd’s disbelief.

“I saw him attack, but no one followed,” he said, adding he ‘couldn’t imagine the other riders believing they could chase Van Aert down once he had broken.

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Omloop Het Nieuwsblad