{"id":502811,"date":"2026-02-27T10:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502811\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T10:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:03:20","slug":"tips-fantasy-leagues-classics-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502811\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips fantasy leagues classics 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is just around the corner, which means plenty of cycling fans are once again scratching their heads over the many pools and fantasy games you can play this week. Most people can find the Mathieu van der Poels and Tadej Poga\u010dars easily enough, but there\u2019s a good chance this list of names from IDLProcycling.com wasn\u2019t the first that came to mind.<\/p>\n

Jonas Abrahamsen – Uno-XIn Norway, it\u2019s been all about Johannes Klaebo on the front pages after the Winter Olympics, but in the coming weeks there might just be room reserved for Jonas Abrahamsen<\/a> too. The Norwegian has shown a big part of his preparation on social media and on Strava<\/a>, and it\u2019s hard not to be impressed by what we\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n

Abrahamsen was already among the strongest riders in both Opening Weekend races last year. At Omloop, he was in the top three over the Bosberg, while in Kuurne he was the only one able to respond on the climb to Tim Wellens\u2019 acceleration. After that, the Norwegian fell ill and the rest of his spring went up in smoke.<\/p>\n

In summer and autumn, he still played an important role in Uno-X\u2019s promotion to the WorldTour \u2014 the exact platform where he wants to shine himself this spring. If his training data is anything to go by, he should be among the best riders in the big Classics<\/a>, just behind Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel.<\/p>\n

Phil Bauhaus – Bahrain VictoriousIn many fantasy games, you also need to select a few sprinters, and that\u2019s where Phil Bauhaus<\/a> of Bahrain Victorious could be an interesting pick. The Schalke 04 fan \u2014 born not far from the Dutch border \u2014 is the clear number one sprinter at his team.<\/p>\n

Bauhaus isn\u2019t a rider who wins loads in recent years, but he still has the full confidence of his team and he keeps putting himself in the mix. And when he does win, it\u2019s often at WorldTour level: four of his last five victories came in the WorldTour, including two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico.<\/p>\n

Perhaps even more important: in 2025 the German decided to ride more Classics, including the Monuments \u2014 he finished 23rd at Paris-Roubaix \u2014 and he liked the taste of it. So over the coming months, we should see him racing in Belgium more than we have in recent years. Fellow German Max Kanter, who at XDS-Astana will get Mike Teunissen more often as a lead-out man, is also a fun option.<\/p>\n

\"phil-bauhaus\"\/Mauro Schmid – Jayco AlUlaNext up is the number one rider on the UCI ranking of this cycling season \u2014 at least up to the start of Omloop: Mauro Schmid<\/a> of Jayco AlUla. The Swiss rider finished second at the Tour Down Under, fourth at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, won the Muscat Classic, took a stage in the Tour of Oman and ended that race fourth overall.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not exactly a slow start. Next stop is Europe, where Schmid \u2014 alongside Michael Matthews \u2014 is expected to deliver results in the Classics after Opening Weekend. Last year he was already right on schedule in the hilly Classics, but this time he\u2019s adding a few more races on the way to the Ardennes triple.<\/p>\n

The programme of the former Giro gravel stage winner is not fully set in stone yet, but it is certain he will start Milan\u2013Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders. Other races such as Brabantse Pijl \u2014 a race Matthews has also added to his calendar \u2014 are still possible too, but Schmid doesn\u2019t want to make hasty decisions after such an intense start to the season.<\/p>\n

\"mauro-schmid-2\"\/Edward Planckaert – Alpecin-Premier TechAt Alpecin-Premier Tech, a lot of attention will once again go to Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen and also Tibor Del Grosso this spring, but the team also has a very strong \u201cmiddle unit\u201d. Edward Planckaert<\/a> is one of those riders who acts like cement between the stones \u2014 crucial without always being in the spotlight. He was actually meant to join Soudal Quick-Step, but during a successful Vuelta he changed his mind.<\/p>\n

Anyone who looks beyond the results can see how important Planckaert has been in recent years: as lead-out for Philipsen and Kaden Groves, and as support for Van der Poel. Last year, for example, he was the one who brought Van der Poel back to the peloton at full throttle after his crash in the Tour of Flanders.<\/p>\n

We saw more standout work in the Giro, where he finished 11th in the brutal gravel stage won by Wout van Aert, and stretched the entire peloton \u2014 including Groves \u2014 on the finishing climb to the city walls of Vicenza. In autumn, he guided Philipsen to multiple Vuelta stage wins, and he did it so well that he still managed to finish in the top 20 himself six times.<\/p>\n

\"edward-planckaert\"\/Paul Seixas – Decathlon CMA CGMAdmittedly, it\u2019s maybe a little cheeky to include the biggest cycling talent of the past few weeks in this list. But it\u2019s still true that the name Paul Seixas<\/a> won\u2019t ring a bell for a lot of even slightly non-standard cycling fans.<\/p>\n

The Frenchman will show himself in a few Classics for the first time this season, after making quite an impression last year at the World Championships, European Championships and Il Lombardia. Last week, he took his first pro victory at the Volta ao Algarve.<\/p>\n

Seixas rides the Faun Ard\u00e8che Classic on Saturday, and one week later the former cyclocross rider will line up at Strade Bianche \u2014 where a podium is not out of the question. In April, he also has the Tour of the Basque Country, Fl\u00e8che Wallonne and Li\u00e8ge\u2013Bastogne\u2013Li\u00e8ge on the schedule.<\/p>\n

\"paul-seixas-decathlon\"\/Mikkel Honor\u00e9 – EF Education-EasyPost<\/p>\n

One thing that\u2019s easy to overlook when spring arrives is what happened in the autumn before it. That\u2019s where we noticed Mikkel Honor\u00e9 starting to approach the level of his breakthrough 2021 season, with a 12th place at the very demanding World Championships in Rwanda and fourth at the Tour of Guangxi. A result at a long race like Worlds never lies.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t able to build on that in February at the Tour of Oman due to a crash on the way to Eastern Mountain, but what\u2019s interesting is that the Dane is set for a spring campaign from Omloop all the way to Li\u00e8ge, including the Italian Classics.He was expected to ride much of that alongside Neilson Powless, but the American unfortunately has to miss the sprin<\/a>g with a knee injury.
\"MikkelTom Crabbe – Flanders Baloise<\/p>\n

What Cofidis sprinter Milan Fretin was in 2025, Tom Crabbe of Flanders Baloise is shaping up to be in 2026: a Belgian sprinter who suddenly announces himself in February with two big wins \u2014 and who also has a packed spring programme.<\/p>\n

Crabbe first beat Lukas Kubis (Unibet Tietema Rockets \/ Unibet Rose Rockets) on an uphill finish at \u00c9toile de Bess\u00e8ges, then added a stage in the Ruta del Sol on Saturday, where he out-sprinted Omloop 2025 winner S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Belgian \u2014 also a track rider \u2014 immediately put himself on the radar of several WorldTour teams. But first, he gets to show himself at races such as Kuurne\u2013Brussels\u2013Kuurne, Nokere Koerse, the Brugge\u2013De Panne region races and Scheldeprijs. \u201cThis season, Tom will definitely get more opportunities,\u201d team manager Hans De Clercq has already assured.<\/p>\n

\"tom-crabbe\"\/Roger Adria – Movistar<\/p>\n

The days when Spanish riders travelled to Flanders feeling intimidated seem to be well and truly gone. Next year we might be talking about H\u00e9ctor \u00c1lvarez of Lidl\u2013Trek, but this season we\u2019re putting Roger Adri\u00e0 of Movistar forward.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard made the move this winter from Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe, where he showed plenty of good things over the past two years. A quick sample: 14th at Amstel Gold Race, fifth at Eschborn\u2013Frankfurt, 11th at Worlds and Il Lombardia in 2024, victory at Circuit Wallonie, sixth at Emilia, third at Coppa Bernocchi and 10th at Strade Bianche.<\/p>\n

At Movistar, he gets full freedom, which is interesting \u2014 Adri\u00e0 is a rider who can survive a hill, has speed, and isn\u2019t afraid to fight for position. Though we should be honest: Movistar also have a few similar types in Jon Barrenetxea, Carlos Canal, Iv\u00e1n Garc\u00eda Cortina and Orluis Aular.<\/p>\n

\"roger-adria\"\/Riley Sheehan – NSN<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, we\u2019ve seen some big performances from the heavier types in tougher stages of races like Valencia (Ben Turner) and Algarve (Dylan van Baarle and Liam Slock). That\u2019s often a good measuring stick for Omloop. In that bracket you can also place Riley Sheehan, who finished an impressive ninth overall in Valencia.<\/p>\n

The American broke through in 2023 by winning Paris-Tours \u2014 as a stagiaire, no less. The season after, he immediately confirmed that level with 13th at the Tour of Flanders and a podium at Eschborn\u2013Frankfurt, but then things stalled a bit.<\/p>\n

This year, he remains ambitious with NSN. Early in the season, Sheehan already said he wants to target the toughest races. \u201cI\u2019m striving for a top result in the Spring Classics, especially the Tour of Flanders. I\u2019ve learned a lot from earlier setbacks, and with the strong performances I\u2019ve delivered, I\u2019ve proven to myself that I\u2019m capable of a top result,\u201d he said via his team.<\/p>\n

\"NSN_2026_SHEEHAN-813x1252\"\/Albert Withen Philipsen – Lidl-TrekSpeaking of top talents: he\u2019s only 19, but last October Albert Withen Philipsen<\/a> was already on the podium at Tre Valli Varesine and Paris-Tours. The stoic Dane \u2014 who was also up there in the spring at U23 Paris-Roubaix (victory), Strade Bianche and Eschborn\u2013Frankfurt \u2014 will mix it up in the spring for the first time at the highest level.At Lidl\u2013Trek they say this is mainly about learning, but at the same time sporting manager Steven de Jongh couldn\u2019t hide a smile<\/a> when asked who his positive surprise for 2026 might be: \u201cThen it has to be Philipsen,\u201d said the Dutchman, who last year correctly pointed to Mathias Vacek as one to watch.
Philipsen would have preferred to learn the ropes in Belgium in the shadow of Mads Pedersen, but the good ones arrive quickly. And so it could be that Philipsen \u2014 who would also like to ride Strade Bianche and the Ardennes Classics<\/a> \u2014 is already on the mark alongside Vacek and Jakob S\u00f6derqvist.\"albert-withen-philipsen\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is just around the corner, which means plenty of cycling fans are once again scratching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[200774,49,48,33043,635,200772,133917,71933,179911,152079,141519,200773,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-502811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-albert-withen-philipsen","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-classics","12":"tag-cycling","13":"tag-edward-planckaert","14":"tag-idl-productions","15":"tag-jonas-abrahamsen","16":"tag-mauro-schmid","17":"tag-mikkel-bjerg","18":"tag-paul-seixas","19":"tag-phil-bauhaus","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}