Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) set the Strava QOM on the Vesten and Muur van Geraardsbergen combination at Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2:37, five seconds faster than men's race podium finisher Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and just four seconds slower than Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike), who finished fourth in the men's edition.
Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), who won the women's race, clocked 2:39 on the same segment, also quicker than Vermeersch's 2:42. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), who attacked solo on the Muur to win the men's race, clocked 2:22 (though not recorded on Strava), a different evidentiary tier to the GPS-recorded efforts.
Five seconds is meaningful on a climb that takes under three minutes. But the numbers need context before they tell you anything useful.
Omloop 2026 Vesten+Muur segment times
Rider | Time | Race |
|---|---|---|
| Christophe Laporte | ||
| Demi Vollering | ||
| Florian Vermeersch | ||
| Kasia Niewiadoma | ||
| Mathieu van der Poel |
What the numbers do and don't show
The men's race ran later in the afternoon, on cobbles that were wetter than those the women faced. Reduced traction on greasy granite costs watts and seconds, and no Strava file can adjust for that. Then there is Vermeersch's mechanical: the Belgian said his gears snagged when he shifted to the inner ring on the Muur, costing him around 20 metres at the worst possible moment. His 2:42 was not a clean effort.
The women's Omloop was shaped by a tactical move from FDJ United-Suez: German champion Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) delivered a high-pace lead-out on the Vesten, the flatter approach to the Muur, before Vollering attacked on the steepest ramps. Niewiadoma was the only rider who could follow.
"On the Muur, it was the plan to do full gas," Vollering said following the race finish. "Franzi came from the back and she did the first part of the Muur perfectly."
The pair worked together over the Bosberg and into Ninove, where Vollering won the two-up sprint. Niewiadoma, who had struck her knee against her handlebar after dropping her chain earlier in the race, finished second.
"I dropped the chain and hit my knee against the handlebar, so I feel like the main thing in my head was just the stupid pain in my knee," Niewiadoma said in the post-race flash interview.
In the men's race, Van der Poel's Muur attack was the culmination of a solo effort. He dropped Vermeersch and Tim van Dijke to ride the final 16km alone, becoming the first rider in 25 years to win Omloop on debut. His 2:22 on the segment puts clear air between himself and the rest, but it also underlines how close Niewiadoma's effort sat to the broader men's selection group.
On time alone, her climb would have placed her in the frame of the men's finale group.
Cover image credit: Thomas Maheux
