Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 Betting Odds: Who Will Win the Season Opener?

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This weekend cycling fans can finally watch their favorites in Belgium, where the season opener will be hosted. On the one day race, which is part of the UCI World Tour, top riders will compete. Generally, home cyclists are winning it, but in recent years we could also see British, Spanish or Czech champions. Let’s see who are the favorites now, in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 betting odds. 

After competing in the Middle East and Southern Europe, finally, cyclists can race in Northwestern Europe. The Omloop has been organized since 1945, this will be the 75th edition. The race starts and ends in Ghent, and runs through the hills in the Ardennes. It is a tough race with 13 climbs and nine cobbled parts during the 200km. Zdenek Stybar, a rider from the Czech Republic, won the race last year after he managed to get away in the last 3 kilometers. We can meet him this year as well, but he is not the biggest favorite to win this time. 

The Dutch rider is favorite in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 Betting Odds

25-year old Mathieu van der Poel from the Netherlands has the smallest odds, 3.00 to win the race according to the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 betting odds. The young talent has won the Dutch National Road Race championship in 2018, three stages at the Tour of Britain, and other one-day races last year. Van der Poel is also a three-time world champion in cyclo-cross, winning his third title this January. But from now on in this season his focus will be on-road cycling where he has a busy schedule. He will also compete in the Tour Catalyuna and both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix classics besides many other events. 

Almost 10 years older is Greg Van Avermaet who is another favorite according to online sportsbooks in Belgium. And not just because he is a local guy, but also thanks to his previous results in one-day races, like winning the Paris-Roubaix in  2017. Plus he has already won this race twice in 2016 and 2017, so he has lots of experience in cycling in the area. Van Avermaet is also the 2016 Olympic Champion in the men’s individual road race and winner of several stages at the Tour de France and the Vuelta. 

Last year’s winner will race again

As we mentioned, the winner of 2019, Zdenek Stybar also takes part in the race. He is also a cyclocross racer, and three-time world champion just like van der Poel, but he started to race on road a few years earlier, in 2011. He finished second twice in the Paris-Roubaix, won one stage in the Tour de France in 2015, and one stage at the Vuelta in 2013. But probably last year’s victory at this Belgian race is his biggest success yet, which gives him good chances again. His odds are 11.00. 

Online gambling sites in Belgium are not so optimistic about the performance of another Belgian cyclist, Phillipe Gilbert. Even though he is the most famous and successful of all the mentioned riders, his odds are only 19.00 to win. He is a classic race specialist and has won almost every major one from Paris-Roubaix to the Amstel Gold Race and the Tour of Flanders. Gilbert has also won stages at all the three Grand Tours, he got the most, seven-stage wins at the Vuelta. But he hasn’t won this race yet, which might be an extra motivation for him this year.