2022 Danilith Nokere Koerse (1.Pro), Belgium

76th edition: Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Nokere Koerse podium history | 2021 edition | 2023 edition | Start list

Deinze - Nokere: 189.8 km, 24.9km of cobbles

Race map & profile

The race is Tim Merlier's.

Les Woodland's book Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Nokere at 1:12 PM, local time: 11C (52F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the southeast at 11 mph (7 mph). No rain is forecast.

The course: Nokere Koerse is 189.8 kilometres long in 2022. The start remains on the Markt in Deinze and the finish is of course on top of Nokereberg.

Everything in between has been thoroughly revamped. First there is a 78 km run that takes the riders along Nazareth, Gavere, Zingem, Zwalm, Oudenaarde, Wortegem-Petegem and Anzegem towards Nokere. After 26 kilometres the famous Wolvenberg is the first hill of the day, 24 kilometres later the Tiegemberg follows, with before that the cobblestones of the Varent. This is followed by the Holstraat and the lesser known Petegemberg (500m at 7.6%), with a beautiful view of the Flemish Ardennes at the top.

It goes without saying that these slopes will only serve as a warm-up. After the riders first fire up Nokereberg (350m at 5.7%, maximum 7%), 4 local laps of 27.9km will follow.

The local lap is spiced up with numerous cobbled sections: Herlegemstraat, Lange Aststraat, Kloosterstraat, Lededorp cobbles, Huisepontweg, Wannegem-Dorp and Hoevenstraat, which follow each other very closely. That's where the differences have to be made, otherwise we'll have a power sprint on the Nokereberg.

The race:

Here's the report from third-place Arnaud De Lie's Lotto Soudal team.

After a group sprint on Nokereberg Arnaud De Lie finished third in Nokere Koerse. Only Tim Merlier and Max Walscheid were faster than the Ardennese on his 20th birthday, after Lotto Soudal had put him into place for the sprint.

“I felt really good today”, said the sprinter immediately after the race. “Yes, it was my birthday. But any race is an opportunity for a good result. I am very happy with this third spot in a Flemish Classic.”

De Lie was Lotto Soudal’s leader in case of a sprint finish on Nokereberg. It finally came to a sprint after a finale with lots of attacks that never got much room. Cedric Beullens, Victor Campenaerts and Florian Vermeersch were omnipresent during that phase of the race. Thomas De Gendt, Sébastien Grignard and Michael Schwarzmann had done their work before. “I have to thank them all”, realized De Lie. “Thanks to them I was able to get this third place.”

Vermeersch lead the peloton during the last kilometre, while De Lie found the wheel of Merlier. Merlier launched his sprint far from the finish line, while De Lie got boxed in. Once he got space again, it was impossible to get back to Merlier and Walscheid.  “They were just stronger today, I have nothing to be sorry about. A podium spot in a Flemish Classic as Nokere Koerse is just wonderful for me.”