Sports

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026: Waerenskjold’s Chances?

by Archynetys Sports Desk
The day is almost here, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad! The cycling season has of course been going on for a while with great competitions in Australia, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Middle East, among others, but for some cycling connoisseurs it only really starts with D’n Omloop. In the Leader’s jersey considers for!

The Omloop traditionally kicks off the classics season, and this will be no different in 2026. The first big appointment, although we must mention that a number of top riders always choose to ignore the race. For example, we traditionally do not see Mads Pedersen and Tadej Pogacar in action.

Last year we saw one of the biggest surprises of recent years. Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X) was the last of the peloton to cross the Bosberg, but was lucky with the headwind and race situation and was eventually able to sprint to victory in Ninove. Paul Magnier came on strong, but missed the victory by a hair.
The three years before that we each saw a masterclass from Jumbo-Visma | Lease a Bike, with Wout van Aert (2022), Dylan van Baarle (2023) and Jan Tratnik (2024) as glorious winners.

Latest winners Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Table of Contents

2025 Soren Waerenskjold
2024 Jan Tratnik
2023 Dylan van Baarle
2022 Wout van Aert
2021 Davide Ballerini
2020 Jasper Stuyven
2019 Zdenek Stybar
2018 Michael Valgren
2017 Greg Van Avermaet
2016 Greg Van Avermaet
2015 Ian Stannard

Course, weather and times Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026

This year’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has a total length of 197.2 kilometers, which means we have to complete five kilometers less than last year. There are no significant changes – apart from a few adjustments at the beginning – so we can prepare for the classic Omloop scenario when it comes to the likely crucial points.

After the team presentation in ‘t Kuipke in Ghent, the drivers get on their steel steeds for the tour of duty through Flanders. After 33 kilometers the first cobblestone section (the Paddestraat) appears, fifteen kilometers later the first climb follows with the Leberg. Normally, a breakaway group has already left and the large teams have put a man at the head of the peloton.

Halfway through the race we arrive in the Flemish Ardennes, with the Lange Munte, Leberg and Valkenbeg in succession. With approximately fifty kilometers to go, the Eikenberg/Wolvenberg combination is often the starting point of the final, especially the cobblestone sections of Holleweg and Kerkgate/Jagerij follow quite quickly and we are now also approaching the final hour of the race.

This is followed by the Molenberg, where the final usually starts. The combination of Berendries, Tenbosse and Parikeberg follows, with the last two slopes being new compared to last year. We will no longer see the Leberg, Vossenhol and cobblestone strip Haaghoek in this phase,

After the Parikeberg, the drivers then get ten kilometers of ‘rest’, before the most famous of them all looms: the Kapelmuur in Geraardsbergen, for years with the Bosberg a regular feature in the Tour of Flanders final. After the top of the Bosberg, there are another twelve fast kilometers towards Ninove, where the finish line is still steeply uphill.

Climbs and cobblestones

slopes circuit

Weather
This weekend will be a good time in Belgium, where the sun seems to be shining. This with an expected maximum temperature of 11 degrees Celsius and a moderate wind, which mainly blows in the back in the final. And that is beneficial for the attackers.

Times
Start: 11.05 am
Finish: approximately 4:05 PM

Favorites Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026

What a starting field, ladies and gentlemen. It must have been many years ago that the Omloop welcomed such a line-up of participants in Ghent, although we should add a small disclaimer that not everything is official at the time of writing.
Key question in advance: does it start or not? Of course we’re talking about that Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman has already indicated twice – after Le Samyn last year and recently in Benidorm – that he is considering taking on the Omloop for the first time in his career, but for the time being he still has to wait for confirmation from his residence in Spain.
Alpecin-Premier Tech has already announced its participation Jasper Philipsen on, the number three of 2025. Kaden Groves is also on the provisional start list.
mathieu van der poel

Mathieu van der Poel: does it start or not?

Who is definitely there, is Wout van Aert. The Belgian broke his ankle in Mol on January 2, but managed to prepare himself in time for the spring opener with an altitude training course. The Belgian shares leadership with his team Matthew Brennanwho already rode the Tour Down Under in January.

Christophe Laporte was also high in the pecking order, but he had a nasty crash on Sunday in the Ruta del Sol and it remains to be seen to what extent he will be affected this week. If the Frenchman is fit enough, Visma | Lease a Bike multiple horses to bet on. At least he’s there.

wout-van-aert-3

Wout van Aert starts his road season in the Omloop.

No Tadej Pogacar yet at UAE Emirates-XRG, but with Tim Wellens there is also a man in shape. The Belgian drove the entire peloton home in the Clasica Jaen last Monday in Spain with a solo of more than 50 kilometers. Florian Vermeersch made a strong impression in the UAE Tour as Isaac del Toro’s adjutant and we also better keep an eye on Nils Politt.

We continue to Soudal Quick-Step, where two riders have already made their name in the Algarve towards the Omloop. Paul Magnier won two stages and thus continued on the same footing as he ended in 2025: winning a lot. Dylan van Baarle did not miss his transition, judging by a tenth place in the tough queen stage. Normally we would also include Jasper Stuyven, but he did not show up on Saturday due to illness.

We saw a little further east Tom Pidcock on behalf of Pinarello-Q36.5 in the final stage of the Ruta del Sol and he will also start in the Omloop on Saturday. However, this race seems difficult for the Briton to really make a difference uphill and so his team will hope that Fred Wright and Xandro Meurisse can also play their role in the (pre)final.
tom-pidcock

Tom Pidcock won the Sun Route.

Last year Soren Waerenskjold was the celebrated man in the Omloop, but the wind is now completely in the other direction in Ninove and so we are more likely to count on his team Uno-X Jonas Abrahamsen. The cheerful bundle of primal power from Norway has prepared for the classics in a Spartan way, with the absolute goal of playing in the finals. He also won the Muur Classic Geraardsbergen last year in August.

If we look back even more deeply at last year’s final, we see that the outposts on the Muur and Bosberg were occupied by Abrahamsen and Mathias Vacek from Lidl-Trek. The Czech has been appointed as the absolute leader of the German team for this race, with Jakob Soderqvist and the surprise of the year before: Toms Skujins in his shadow.
The Omloop is not the only race in which the Wall is central: this has also been true for the Renewi Tour for years. And there it is Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché, which also starts with Jenno Berckmoes) has been one of the trendsetters in the past two editions, a role he is eager to play in the spring. Will we see the emergence of classic driver De Lie this season?

It is one of the many questions you have before a race like the Omloop. In recent weeks we have also seen some nice things from drivers like Biniam Girmay, Riley Sheehan (NSN), Magnus Sheffield and Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers) in Spain, but what is all that worth in the 207 kilometers between Ghent and Ninove?

biniam-girmay

Biniam Girmay: Another outsider.

A team that is also hungry in the spring is Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. Last year Tim van Dijke was one of the trendsetters in the Omloop and together with brother Mick he has now prepared himself for the Omloop again. There they start, with Laurence Pithie, Gianni Vermeersch and Jordi Meeus, with a very strong team in the width.

Bahrain Victorious goes to battle with Matej Mohoric and Alec Segaert, where they will hope for an outlier from Oliver Naesen, Stefan Bissegger or Stan Dewulf at the somewhat decapitated Decathlon CMA CGM. EF Education-EasyPost starts with a strong team across the board, consisting of Kasper Asgreen, Vincenzo Albanese, Luke Lamperti and Marijn van den Berg.

At Groupama-FDJ we secretly look forward to the achievements of Valentin Madouas, Bastien Tronchon and top talent Thibaud Gruel, while Movistar has also been less successful in Flanders with Roger Adria, Carlos Canal, Orluis Aular, Jon Barrenatxea and Ivan Garcia Cortina.

On behalf of XDS-Astana we are looking forward to Mike Teunissen, Alberto Bettiol and ex-winner Davide Ballerini, while Tudor is counting on Matteo Trentin, Rick Pluimers, Luca Mozzato and the man who is always good in the Omloop: Stefan Küng. And then we have the Unibet Rose Rockets, who will want to continue building on the top performance of 2025 with Lukas Kubis. Plenty of storylines to follow!

Who are the favorites for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026 according to In de Leiderstrui?

Top favorite: Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Outsiders: Wout van Aert, Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike), Tim Wellens (UAE Emirates-XRG), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Long shots: Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (NSN), Florian Vermeersch (UAE Emirates-XRG), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Dylan van Baarle (Soudal Quick-Step) and Stefan Küng (Tuddor)

TV Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026

The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad can of course be followed on Saturday via various channels: on Belgian television you can tune in from 10.15 am to 11.30 am. VRT 1 (Sporza) for the team presentation, after which they return at 1:30 PM. Eurosport 1 will also be available from that hour on the main channel and HBO Max.