Kristof Ramon, Cor Vos
Cycling traditionalists rejoice, for Opening Weekend is upon us! Classics season gets underway on Saturday with the Omloop Nieuwsblad (yes that’s the official name now), with Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne to follow on Sunday, and excitement is high as ever, especially with an Omloop debutant on the start list.
The big headliner for the Omloop is Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), making his first ever start at the race. Until shortly before publication time, we were expecting Visma-Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert to join Van der Poel on the start line after working his way back from a recent injury at impressive speed – but the Belgian is unfortunately a late scratch due to illness. Just the same, plenty of heavy hitters will be in attendance hoping to topple the pre-race favorite.
Wout van Aert out of Omloop
An unnamed illness will keep Visma’s star out of the Classics opener.
Organizers made some changes to the route this year after Søren Wærenskjold’s (Uno-X Mobility) surprising 2025 victory in a bunch kick, an outcome that will be less likely given the added challenges on tap. Read on for a closer look at the route updates and the favorites and outsiders for the Omloop, as well as a quick primer on Sunday’s KBK race.
Looking for a preview of the women’s race? As always, Abby Mickey has you covered.
The favorites for the Omloop Nieuwsblad
We’ll break down the contenders more thoroughly below, but as a sneak-peek, here are our top favorites for Saturday’s race.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Mathieu van der Poel
⭐⭐⭐⭐: N/A
⭐⭐⭐: Tom Pidcock, Paul Magnier, Jasper Philipsen, Matthew Brennan
⭐⭐: Arnaud De Lie, Biniam Girmay, Tim Wellens, Christophe Laporte
⭐: Ben Turner, Magnus Sheffield, Mathias Vaček, Toms Skujiņš, Albert Withen Philipsen, Søren Wærenskjold, Lukáš Kubiš, Matej Mohorič, Kasper Asgreen, Dylan van Baarle, Tobias Lund Andresen
When to watch
The men’s Omloop Nieuwsblad starts on Saturday, February 26, at 11:05 am CET (5:05 am ET/9:05 pm AET). Organizers estimate the finish at 3:51 pm CET (9:51 am ET/1:51 am AET). Given the route and where the challenges are positioned, if you’re pressed for time, you could consider picking up the race about an hour and a half before that expected finish.
For specifics on where to watch, check out our handy guide to streaming coverage for the whole WorldTour season.
How to watch pro bike racing in 2026
A complete guide for how to watch the Tour de France and every 2026 men’s and women’s WorldTour road race for audiences in the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK, plus tips on how to save money.
The route
The 2026 Omloop parcours resembles last year’s in many ways, but it is 10 km longer and organizers have upped the difficulty level a bit. All told, there are 15 distinct sections of either cobbles, climbs, or cobbled climbs, some of which riders will hit multiple times, for a total of 20 named sections.
Riders will head out from Ghent and cover gently rolling terrain for a while as they take a circuitous route toward Oudenaarde. The first half of the race features three cobbled sectors, none of which are likely to have a huge impact on the first go-round.
The lengthy Lange Munte and the second passage of the Haaghoek cobbled sector will ratchet up the tension in the second half of the race and then a second trip up the Eikenberg at a little over 60 km to go heralds the start of a barrage of challenges sure to spice things up.
Following the Eikenberg is the Holleweg and then the Wolvenberg, and then it’s onto the cobbled Kerkgate and Jagerij sectors. Then comes the Molenberg, which could be key, followed by the rapid succession of challenges presented by the Haaghoek cobbles, the paved Leberg climb that immediately follows, and paved Berendries climb just a few kilometers later. The updated route now comes into play as riders will face the paved Tenbosse and Parikeberg climbs next before the famed Muur van Geraardsbergen.
After arriving at the top of the legendary cobbled climb, the peloton will have 16 km and one final challenge left: the cobbled Bosberg. It’s 12 km, mostly downhill, from the top of the Bosberg to the finish in Ninove, which means that a sprint finish is not entirely out of the question, but the added challenges make that less likely than before.
The stars and the storylines
We go into the weekend tracking a handful of storylines, starting with …
Should Mathieu van der Poel care about the Omloop curse?
The moment Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) announced that he would make his first ever start at the Omloop (shocking, isn’t it?) he became the heavy favorite to win. If he does, however, it will put him into an unenviable position for the rest of his spring, trying to break a long-lasting trend. No Omloop winner has gone on to win the Tour of Flanders that year. Does Van der Poel really need those bad vibes when he goes up against Tadej Pogačar in a few weeks?
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