{"id":513949,"date":"2026-04-05T09:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T09:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513949\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T09:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T09:11:14","slug":"tour-of-flanders-men-live-an-easter-extravaganza-on-the-belgian-cobbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513949\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour of Flanders Men LIVE – An Easter extravaganza on the Belgian cobbles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Refresh <\/p>\n

2026-04-05T09:08:12.411Z<\/p>\n

It looks like the peloton is gone but Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is on the front and still has the peloton rather strung out. However, lots of riders are taking the chance to have a natural break.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T09:05:52.646Z<\/p>\n

Dillier isn’t doing any work in the break.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T09:05:39.974Z<\/p>\n

The break now have over 40″ on the peloton.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T09:04:45.798Z<\/p>\n

Breakaway:<\/p>\n

Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Frederik Frison (Pinarello-Q36.5)
Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers)
Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost)
Luca Van Boven (Lotto-Intermarche)
Kamil Gradek (Bahrain Victorious)
Dries De Pooter (Jayco-AlUla)
Julius van den Berg (Picnic-PostNL)
Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
Edoardo Zamperini (Cofidis)
Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Rose Rockets)
Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T09:00:08.219Z<\/p>\n

A break is forming! About 15 riders involved.<\/p>\n

Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Premier Tech) is a surprising addition and, immediately, UAE Team Emirates-XRG scramble a chase.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:58:38.936Z<\/p>\n

Van der Poel joins Van Aert in rejecting favourite status and pushes all the pressure on Poga\u010dar…<\/p>\n

>>> ‘He’s one level above all the rest’ – Mathieu van der Poel rejects status as favourite to beat Tadej Poga\u010dar in Tour of Flanders<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"2026\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:53:22.735Z<\/p>\n

Tom\u00e1\u0161 Kopeck\u00fd (Unibet Rose Rockets) is the next lone rider to get a gap on the peloton as they ride into Sint-Niklaas. Kopeck\u00fd is joined by a rider from Bahrain Victorious and Pinarello-Q36.5 but TotalEnergies is leading the string of riders that will bring the peloton back to them yet again.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:50:48.036Z<\/p>\n

Half an hour in and there is still no break. One Flanders-Baloise rider has a small gap but, yet again, it is swiftly closed down.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:49:58.354Z<\/p>\n

Van Aert gets back in with Stan Dewulf (Decathlon-CMA CGM) immediately starting up a conversation with him.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:48:00.993Z<\/p>\n

Van Aert rolling back into the peloton after a natural break and a quick chat at the car.<\/p>\n

\n

\"OUDENAARDE,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:46:52.660Z<\/p>\n

Evenepoel is making his debut at the race today…<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:45:05.072Z
\n260km to go<\/p>\n

Flanders-Baloise, Movistar, Tudor and Picnic-PostNL have been involved in every move so far with Pinarello-Q36.5, Burgos-Burpellet-BH, EF Education-EasyPost and Unibet Rose Rockets all regularly involved too.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:43:43.579Z<\/p>\n

There is a strong headwind which is killing any attacker’s momentum.<\/p>\n

\n

\"OUDENAARDE,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:43:17.551Z<\/p>\n

It’s wave after wave of attacks but the peloton don’t even seem to be trying and just manage to bring it back every time.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:41:35.724Z<\/p>\n

The moves continue to come bit they just aren’t getting the gap. Marco Haller (Tudor) involved in this latest move with Jon Barrenetxea (Movistar) and a few others. The Spaniard has been riding really well in this Classics season with a couple of 12th places in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Dwars door Vlaanderen.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:37:07.804Z<\/p>\n

Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) is at the team car with radio issues.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:36:31.793Z<\/p>\n

Simmons brought back but now Sam Welsford (Ineos Grenadiers) drags three other riders clear including Fredrik Frison (Pinarello-Q36.5) but Albert Torres (Movistar) closes things down again.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:33:51.949Z<\/p>\n

Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost) launches clear and has a gap. Riders trying to join but the headwind is meaning that attackers just drag the rest of the peloton.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:31:40.594Z<\/p>\n

Puncture for Fabian Lienhard (Tudor).<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:30:57.057Z<\/p>\n

Hugo de la Calle (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) is the next to try a move but nothing is going for the moment.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:28:31.675Z<\/p>\n

Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) begins to control the peloton.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:28:15.172Z<\/p>\n

Attack by Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise) but nothing is being allowed to go just yet.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:23:51.883Z<\/p>\n

No break for the moment.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:23:05.114Z<\/p>\n

Unibet Rose Rockets are the next to launch a move and he gets a gap but he’s dragged back.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:20:53.798Z
\n278.2km to go!<\/p>\n

Racing begins and Picnic-PostNL begin the attacks.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:19:39.204Z<\/p>\n

The startlist is absolutely stacked! Tadej Poga\u010dar, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Remco Evenepoel among a long list of super talents.<\/p>\n

\n

\"ANTWERP,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:05:56.557Z<\/p>\n

The riders have started the neutral zone. Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) clipped a wheel as they started and hit the barriers. He is back riding.<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:04:19.874Z<\/p>\n

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) seems very pleased that Evenepoel has decided to debut at the Ronde this year…<\/p>\n

>>> ‘Not a disadvantage for me’ \u2013 Mathieu van der Poel welcomes addition of Remco Evenepoel to Tour of Flanders but warns against underestimating debutant<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"MIDDELKERKE,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T08:01:48.853Z<\/p>\n

Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) refuses to be included in the discussion when it comes to the biggest names of the sport…<\/p>\n

>>> ‘I don’t consider myself in the big four’ \u2013 Wout van Aert ‘older and wiser’ but avoids talking himself up for major Tour of Flanders battle<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"A\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T07:59:10.063Z<\/p>\n

Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is, obviously, the big favourite for today. However, he is a bit concerned about the ability of Evenepoel and his unpredictability…<\/p>\n

>>> ‘He can attack in the most random places’ \u2013 Tadej Poga\u010dar ponders potential tactical headache of Remco Evenepoel at Tour of Flanders<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"ANTWERP,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-04-05T07:54:48.185Z<\/p>\n

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live report of the men’s Tour of Flanders\/Ronde Van Vlaanderen 2026!<\/p>\n

It was a surprise on April Fool’s Day that the announcement of Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) wasn’t a joke and very definitely is happening! Whether you like how they did the announcement or not, it captured the attention of the cycling world!<\/p>\n

>>> ‘I deliberately got rid of my social media for two weeks’ \u2013 Remco Evenepoel addresses drama of surprise Tour of Flanders debut and says he wouldn’t be starting if victory wasn’t possible<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Belgian\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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Logout<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Refresh 2026-04-05T09:08:12.411Z It looks like the peloton is gone but Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-513949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}