It’s the last weekend of February, which can only mean one thing — time for the Classics to season to begin, starting the first race of the Opening Weekend. As ever, the first leg of that double-header will be Omloop Nieuwsblad, albeit with a slightly rebranded new name (the ‘Het’ from the title has been dropped). This is the beginning of a series of weekend Classics the narrative of which will grow over the course of two months, before finally coming to a conclusion at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in late-April.
While those races to come later in the Spring are the headliners, that most here will be hoping to peak in time for, Omloop Nieuwsblad is of great prestige in and of itself, and many top names will be competing hard for the honour of winning it — most notably one Mathieu van der Poel, who, no doubt to the despair of many rivals, was a late announcement to the start list.
ROUTE
Although not quite as long or as intensive as the Tour of Flanders, Omloop Nieuwsblad is still a very demanding, selective race that features some of the most brutal cobbled climbs in Belgium. Twelve climbs and eight cobbled sectors are on the agenda, among them the Leberg, Wolvenberg, Molenberg and Tenbosse.
There have been a few changes from last year, with a double ascent of the Eikeberg added. To balance things, the Valkenberg and Elverenberg have been removed.
What remains is the now-traditional finale of the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg, where the final, all-important attacks will be made. While long-range attacks have been in vogue in other classics in recent years, such is the difficulty and fearsome reputation of the Muur that most will still be fearful of going too deep before they’ve tackled it.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026 men's parcours (credit: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad)
CONTENDERS
MATHIEU VAN DER POEL
Just a few days ago, Mathieu van der Poel threw a cat among the pigeons by announcing that he will compete. Usually the Dutchman is resting up following the Cyclocross season at this time in the spring, but this year will make his debut at what is one of the few cobbles classics not on his palmarès.
Given how invincible Van der Poel has looked in the past two spring campaigns (during which time he has won six of the eight cobbled classics he has featured in, often by huge margins), all eyes will be on him, as rivals await his trademark explosive acceleration. Normally, there is nothing nobody can do to stop him; although hope may lie from looking at his previous seasons, where he has often not yet been up to full speed on his first racing day.
Read more: The star and the cyclist: How Mathieu van der Poel balances fame and focus
TOM PIDCOCK
Although mostly prioritising the hilly rather than the cobbled Classics this spring, Tom Pidcock is set to lead Pinarello Q.36.5 at Omloop Nieuwsbald as one of, if not the, main challenger to Mathieu van der Poel. Pidcock is more used to fruitlessly chasing the shadow of Tadej Pogačar in Classics like Strade Bianche and Il Lombardia than that of Van der Poel is cobbled races like this, but the dilemma of how to take the race to him and not just race for second is a similar one. In his favour is the fact that, unlike Van der Poel, he has already raced and shown form this year, winning the final stage of the Ruta del Sol last week.
TIM WELLENS
Up against Mathieu van der Poel and with Tadej Pogačar waiting until next weekend’s Strade Bianche to make his 2026 bow, Omloop Nieuwsblad is a rare race where last year’s centurions UAE Team Emirates-XRG go into the race as outsiders for the win. But they still have a very strong candidate in Tim Wellens, who has in recent years been among the chief animators at this race and one of the strongest up its all important climb, the Muur. Having, as per usual, started the season in great form, with a big long-range victory at Clásica Jaén, the Belgian has a chance of at long last winning what would be a first ever cobbled spring classic.
DYLAN VAN BAARLE
When Dylan Van Baarle so emphatically won the Omloop Nieuwsblad 2023 with a brilliant long solo attack, it was further confirmation following his Paris-Roubaix win the spring before that he was among the very best classics specialists in the world. His stock has fallen a lot since then, as crashes and injury problems took their toll; but the signs this season are that he’s returning to something like his best, with impressive lead-outs at the Volta ao Algarve to deliver Paul Magnier to a couple of sprint victories. Omloop Nieuwsblad will be his first chance to ride as co-leader for his new team, Soudal-QuickStep, where he will again line up alongside Magnier, although perhaps this time be given opportunities to attack for himself.
MATTHEW BRENNAN
With Wout van Aert a late withdrawal due to illness, young Matt Brennan has been fast-tracked to leader of Visma-Lease a Bike at Omloop Nieuwsblad, much to the excitement of everyone who has been following the rapid rise of this gifted young British rider. With his rapid sprint combined with uphill punch, Brennan is perhaps the rider in the modern peloton who most resembles Peter Sagan, but can he also follow in the Slovak’s footsteps and become a contender for the cobbled Classics? He might not have much experience racing here, and would more than likely need the race to come back for a sprint to win it, but his eye-catching cameo at last year’s Paris-Roubaix suggests he’s up to the challenge of taking on even the very hardest of cobblestones.
OTHER CONTENDERS
It doesn’t happen often, but last year’s race serves as a reminder for how Omloop Nieuwsblad can be decided by a large group sprint.
Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) was the victor that day, and returns to try to defend his title this year, but would face still competition in the event of a sprint from the likes of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling), Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and Paul Magnier, who was second at last year’s race behind the Norwegian.
Uno-X Mobility have another card to play in Jonas Abrahamsen, who loves to attack, and will likely find many allies in the field wanting an aggressive race. Look out for Stefan Küng (Tudor Pro Cycling), Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost), Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) and Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) in this regard, while teams like Visma-Lease a Bike and Soudal-QuickStep could try to combat the threat of Van der Poel by using their respective riders such as Christophe Laporte and Yves Lampaert in wildcard roles.
PREDICTION
In the absence of Tadej Pogačar, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen, it really is hard to look past Mathieu van der Poel for the win on Saturday. He might not be up to full speed just yet, and will be wary of peaking too soon given his historically rare it’s been for riders who win this race to go on and win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix; but such is the Dutchman’s quality that he doesn’t need to be at or even necessarily near his best to win here against this field.
