While victories went to Mathieu van der Poel and Matthew Brennan, many others were found wanting during Opening Weekend.
Cor Vos, Kristof Ramon
The Classics are back. Cobbles, crosswinds, dangerous corners, and eons of history. The men’s Opening Weekend resulted in victory at Omloop Nieuwsblad for – no prize for guessing – Mathieu van der Poel, followed up on Sunday by a hard-won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne victory for 20-year-old Matthew Brennan.
Naturally, Van der Poel and Brennan, and their respective teams, are the big winners of the weekend, but these races always throw out more storylines than you can shake a stick at, some more clearcut than others.
This is of course anything but an exhaustive list. There were also terrific performances from Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe’s Van Dijke twins and Laurence Pithie. Then there’s Pinarello-Q36.5’s Aimé De Gendt who put in a brilliant ride in awful conditions to finish top five at Omloop, and a promising double top-10 for EF’s Luke Lamperti (10th and 9th respectively). Meanwhile, several others were left wanting, including Tom Pidcock who suffered in the cold, and the likes of Groupama-FDJ United, XDS Astana and Ineos Grenadiers that made no mark whatsoever… What follows are some of the key storylines we expect to follow throughout the spring.
Van der Poel tempts fate with triumphant debut
Van der Poel had been a little noncommittal about when his 2026 debut might take place, but the time came that he confirmed Omloop participation, and with that, the whole peloton seemed to adjust its focus to second place.
It mattered little that the former world champion had never raced this particular event before. He’s not made an appearance during Opening Weekend since 2021 when he followed up stage 1 victory at the UAE Tour in late February with 12th at Kuurne. In 2025 he made a last-minute decision to start at Le Samyn, but this year he and Alpecin-Premier Tech chose to put him at the pointy end of a stellar team lineup that included Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves.
The team seemed very much in control, despite a crash for Groves and mechanical issues for Philipsen, and Van der Poel was perfectly positioned to react swiftly when UAE’s Florian Vermeersch attacked on the Molenberg. After about 30 km of riding on the front of the now-seven-rider lead group, he made the Muur van Geraardsbergen look like a ride to the shops with a gentle acceleration at its base. 16 km after going solo, Van der Poel celebrated his first victory of the season, and a 100% record at Omloop Nieuwsblad.
“I’m very happy, and undoubtedly the team is too,” Van der Poel said post-race. “This one wasn’t on our list yet.”
Van der Poel ticks off Omloop Nieuwsblad on debut
Rounding out the podium were underdogs Tim van Dijke and Florian Vermeersch, taking up leadership roles in their captains’ absence.
Something that makes this result a little more intriguing is the fact that no one has ever won both Omloop Nieuwsblad and its more significant brethren the Tour of Flanders in the same year. This legend is so entrenched in the lore of the Spring Classics that victory at Omloop is considered a curse on the winner’s potential at the cobbled Monument to come.
Had thoughts of the curse crossed Van der Poel’s mind?
“Not once,” he said, laughing. “I’m just happy to win this race. My big goals are Flanders and Roubaix again. Everyone knows how strong Tadej [Pogačar] is there, but I do what I can to be in my best possible shape and then we’ll see.”
A cursed man?
Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Premier Tech team was active again on Sunday, with Philipsen particularly aggressive, but only he and Jonas Geens made it to the finale, and all the reigning champion could manage was 18th.
Visma-Lease a Bike arguably team of the weekend
Visma-Lease a Bike entered Opening Weekend beheaded by the absence of Wout van Aert, whose season debut – already later than usual following his ankle injury at New Year – had to be postponed due to illness. And yet, the Dutch WorldTeam threw itself wholeheartedly at both races, and arguably come out with the prize for best team of the weekend.
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