2026 Tour of Flanders Men briefly neutralised after over half peloton stopped at level crossing

The 2026 Tour of Flanders men’s race was briefly neutralised when half the peloton were stopped at a level crossing in the opening part of the race and delayed by a few minutes.

Around 30 riders were able to continue immediately, amongst them Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in pursuit of a dozen-strong break when the level crossing barriers came down.

One of the most famous such incidents in the cobbled Classics occurred in the 2015 edition of Paris-Roubaix, when the main peloton reached a level-crossing shortly after exiting the Arenberg Forest. While the early break was unaffected, the lights had turned red by the time the main peloton approached, though the front end of the bunch made it through before the barriers had lowered.

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A similar incident happened in 2006, leading to the disqualification of three riders. But in 2015 the commissaires at Paris-Roubaix later confirmed that no action would be taken against those who passed through a railway crossing after the barriers had begun to lower, due to the impossibility of identifying in full which riders had been involved.

As for the 2026 Tour of Flanders, the sheer numbers in the front group have, like in Roubaix 2015, apparently reduced the risk of subsequent expulsion. Rather, its main consequence short-term was to see the 13-rider break gain nearly 50% more time on the bunch, with the peloton forced to up the speed of their chase considerably as a result. By 180 kilometres to go, the gap was reduced to five minutes and dropping as UAE and Visma-Lease a Bike gave chase.

UCI regulations, revised after 2015 Paris-Roubaix, now state that if a break is ahead when the bunch is caught by a peloton, the advantage gained is maintained – as happened in Flanders this year.

2026 Tour of Flanders: police stop the riders at a level crossing (Image credit: Getty Images)

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