Explosive power. Breakneck speed. Victory. Sprinting is an art form, leadout trains clicking into place among a chaos of bodies to deliver leaders for the final desperate dash for the finish line.
To build up to the season’s big sprint races – including the sprinters’ unofficial world championsh ips at the UAE Tour – we look at the riders set to make the headlines in 2026, plus those who need to improve to keep up with the pace.
The top step
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Soudal-QuickStep’s Tim Merlier was undoubtedly the man to beat last season. The Belgian notched up 16 victories last year, doubling up in stage races at the AlUla Tour, UAE Tour, Paris-Nice, Baloise Belgium Tour, Renewi Tour and notably the Tour de France. Merlier defeated Jonathan Milan on both Stage 3 in Dunkerque and Stage 9 in Châteauroux with Jasper Philipsen absent having crashed out of the race on Stage 3.
His strength in one-day races too – like his domain of Scheldeprijs – accounts for a hefty number of Soudal-QuickStep’s victories in the past two seasons. Now he has even more backing for the Tour after the departure of Remco Evenepoel, the squad previously having to balance GC vs sprint ambitions. His high win rate is helped by best friend and leadout man Bert Van Lerberghe, someone Merlier has known since they were 12 years old. Not many people have such a strong connection. He hasn’t faced the most ideal start to a season however, forced to miss what could’ve been a tantalising clash with Milan at the AlUla Tour through a knee injury. But if all goes well at the Tour, this delayed start will simply be a forgotten bump in the road.
Milan is head honcho for sprints at Lidl-Trek. Of his ten wins last season, two came at the Tour, with Merlier out of the picture on both days. Despite his considerable Grand Tour success to date, the 25-year-old Italian is yet to win a Classic. His best performance came in 2025 when he finished second at Brugge-De Panne behind Sebastián Molano, and third at Gent-Wevelgem behind teammate Mads Pedersen and Merlier.
He spent the 2024 offseason improving his position on the bike, particularly his upper body in a bid to limit its movement. It’s a common sight to see him bouncing around in the saddle compared to the more stationary Merlier. He’s been doing the same this winter too for a more aero position. If a man who can hit almost 2,000W and bag the green jersey at the Tour is able to unlock more potential, the sky is the limit. He’ll return to the Giro d’Italia this year with eyes on the first maglia rosa as teammate Mads Pedersen get the nod for the Tour de France.
Alpecin-Deceuninck looked incredibly strong in last year’s Tour. They kicked things off by going back-to-back with Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, but Philipsen crashed out on Stage 3. He managed to recover in time for the Vuelta a España, where he won three stages and briefly led the race after the opening day. Last season did mark his lowest number of victories since joining Alpecin-Premier Tech though, with seven wins a far cry from a peak of 19 in 2023, but that year he picked up a plethora of 1.1 races instead of focussing on the Grand Tours. For 2026, he will be bolstering his presence in the Classics alongside Van der Poel. The two make an almighty pair, going 1-2 at Paris-Roubaix in 2023 and 2024.
Then there’s Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert, who are more all-rounders than outright sprinters. The last time Pedersen was at the Tour, he was forced to DNF after Stage 7 with injury, but go back a further year and he won a day backloaded with hills to see off Philipsen. Van Aert is facing a delayed start to the season with a fractured ankle but his recovery is going smoothly. He only won twice on the road last season but they were on the Strade Bianche stage of the Giro and that Montmartre stage at the Tour. The Belgian also helped tee up Simon Yates to win the pink jersey with a perfect display of teamwork on the Colle delle Finestre. Van Aert’s palmarès has been thin in the Classics in recent years though, last notching one win at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in 2024 and at the E3 Saxo Classic in 2023. Something to ponder as the spring comes calling.
Middle ground
A.S.O./Charly López
Kaden Groves is another card to play for Alpecin-Premier Tech. Sometimes with the strength of Van der Poel and Philipsen it feels as though he is shouldered out of contention, yet he grabbed the opportunity to shine at the Tour with both hands. Many scoffed (myself included) at the notion of bringing Groves along when he could try his hand at a Grand Tour not including his two formidable teammates – he did, after all, claim three stages and the points jersey at the Vuelta in 2024. Yet he proved us all wrong when Philipsen was forced to abandon and he picked up a stage for himself. That’s egg on my face.
This season Groves is still faced with battling Philipsen and Van der Poel for space in the Alpecin-Premier Tech hierarchy in the final year of his contract. That might just spur him on even more.
Arnaud De Lie and Olav Kooij are two young guns eager to be the next to break through to the top echelon of sprinters. De Lie can switch from sprints to cobbles with ease. He topped the general classification at the Renewi Tour last year and managed four top five finishes in Tour stages. He has quite the responsibility on his shoulders as his team has merged to form Lotto-Intermarché, but he bagged the most points for Lotto last season and is looking to continue to build his form throughout 2026. He has had his share of injury struggles however, and on that note he is currently recovering from sprained ankle ligaments.
Olav Kooij has moved from Visma-Lease a Bike to Decathlon-CMA CGM, where he immediately slots in as top dog for fast finishes. He has been steadily growing his palmarès with three Giro stages, a silver medal at the European Championships and multiple stages at the Tour of Britain to his name. The biggest objective this year is a Tour stage under the guidance of Mark Renshaw, who has joined the team from XDS-Astana, and with the backing of one of the best leadout trains on paper. Like De Lie and Van Aert, Kooij’s start to the season has also been put on pause due to illness.
Soudal-QuickStep’s young star Paul Magnier has been flying. The 21-year-old amassed 19 wins last season, scoring multiple stages across the Cro Race, Tour de Slovaquie and Tour of Guangxi, but his standout achievement came in the form of a close second place to Søren Wærenskjold at Omloop Nieuwsblad. His identity is intertwined with the future of QuickStep given his signing through to 2029 and the loss of GC man Evenepoel. Now they can pivot to doing what they know best. Being a full-time, Classics-smashing, Grand Tour stage-winning squad.
Biniam Girmay is perfect for harder days. The Tour stage- and green jersey-winning Eritrean has moved from Intermarché-Wanty to NSN Cycling for 2026 and will be wanting to turn things around having not won last season. The new territory might be what he needs to find his winning ways again.
Sam Welsford typically starts his season strong on home turf in Australia. Something different for him this year has been joining Ineos Grenadiers from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. They aren’t a squad known for any form of sprinting capability, however it gives him more of a chance to occupy the space outright than having to fight alongside Jordi Meeus, Danny van Poppel and the climbing talent at a GC-focussed team.
Welsford’s former teammate Meeus still shares the weight of being a sprinter in a general classification squad, and, as such, isn’t going to get the same opportunities as the main stars. He did pick up a couple of wins last year in the Copenhagen Sprint and Binche-Chimay-Binche, but doesn’t have the same support given to him as Merlier, Milan or Philipsen.
Meeus has one thing most others don’t though. A coveted victory on the Champs-Élysées. In 2023 Meeus shocked many to claim a famous victory on the streets of Paris, however with the team focussed on Evenepoel, Primož Roglič, Florian Lipowitz and Giulio Pellizzari, it might be tough to get a look in.
The rest of the field
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Pavel Bittner from Picnic-PostNL announced himself to the world in 2024 with an expertly timed bike throw against Van Aert and Groves on Stage 5 of the Vuelta. The 23-year-old didn’t manage to cross the line first last year, instead scooping up seven second places. Keep an eye on him in the one-day, hilly affairs.
Phil Bauhaus is Bahrain Victorious’s representative in top level sprints, finishing on the podium twice at the 2024 Giro and once at the Tour in 2025. He misses the final kick needed to keep up with the top guys though, with no wins to his name last season.
Fabio Jakobsen’s career was derailed after a life-threatening crash at the 2020 Tour of Poland. It led not only to a lengthy physical recovery but a mental one too. He moved from Soudal-QuickStep to Picnic-PostNL in 2024 but his career has been one of two halves. The pre-accident, dominating ‘Wolfpack’ days where he would average eight wins a year including a couple in Grand Tours, and the now – where it feels as though he might have to settle for some podiums in minor races. But when you’ve been through an accident and rehabilitation like he has, being alive is a win in itself. Let’s hope he can grab a win this year.
