March 18, 2026
After a week of stage racing, some riders will transition back North to Belgian to resume the Classics. Nokere Koerse is the first Semi-Classic in a string of four in just five days. The race will start in Deinze and make its way through towns and cobbled sectors that are quite familiar to seasoned fans. The first 80KM pass over the cobbles of the Padestraat, through Zotegem, and over more cobbles on the Holleweg. The Eikenberg prededes a passage through Oudenaarde and eventually to the circuit that defines the nature of the race. Technically, the circuit is only ridden twice in full but the riders will enter the circuit with around 100KM to go for half a lap, complete two full laps, then a modified lap to finish. On the full laps, the riders will take on the Lange Ast, Huiseplein, Doorn, Lededorp, Huisepontweg, Nokereberg, and Herlegemstraat. In years past, the finish was at the top of the cobbled side of the Nokereberg, but like last year, the finish will be located on a paved road just outside Nokere after a dragging 800M finish straight. The average is 4% but it gets steeper near the top. Going too early on a finish like this is easy to do so, as always, positioning and timing is everything.
Highlighted Riders
Frits Biesterbos, Juan Sebastián Molano, António Morgado, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Max Kanter, Jordi Meeus, Jasper Philipsen, Matevž Govekar, Erlend Blikra, Hugo Hofstetter, Thibaud Gruel, Milan Menten, Matteo Moschetti, Emilien Jeannière, Tom Crabbe, Lukáš Kubiš
Race Summary
There were very few sleeves to be seen as the lead car rolled out of the Markt and into the neutral zone. The bountiful sunshine brought the people out and the large crowds waived to their favorite riders as they set out towards KM0. When the flag was dropped, four riders got away including Lionel Taminiaux of Lotto Intermarché, Sean Christian of Modern Adventure, and Jonah Killy and Jelle Harteel of Tarteletto-Isorex. With 92KM to go, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe were riding on the front of the peloton at a deficit of nearly 3 minutes to the break.
The peloton was about 25 riders wide as they were fighting for position coming into the Lange Ast with a narrowing down to no more than four abreast. As with other races through the Belgian countryside that uses the tracts between farms, the roads were narrow and riders were getting shelled off the back, one by one, with every turn and little acceleration. The break reached the top of the cobbled Nokereberg with 2 laps remaining and 70KM still to race but their advantage had been cut to just 1 minute 20 seconds.
The race went into a calmer period when Alpecin-Premier Tech pulled off the front. No other team was willing to continue the chase and the gap expanded to 2 minutes 40 seconds. The gap remained at that margin until 52KM to go when the bunch were coming into the Lange Ast for the penultimate time. 30 seconds were cut off in no time and it was Soudal Quickstep that accelerated over the Lange Ast and into Huise. Through Huise, a number of riders came down on the Huiseplein cobbles including Tom Crabbe of Flanders-Baloise who didn't look like he was going to make it back into the bunch. XDS-Astana took up the pace and hit the Doorn cobbles with speed. Off the sector, the peloton changed into a more aggressive mood. Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quickstep each tried on multiple occasions to get away but as they arrived back at the cobbled Nokereberg for the final time, the bunch was mostly still together and were less than 1 minute behind the leaders with 38KM to go.
10KM later, all but Killy had been caught from the original break and, with the American in the sights of the peloton, the bunch was calm and spread across the road. Once Killy was brought back, the peloton built their speed back up to position for the tight right on to the Lange Ast for the final time. The race stretched and, like last lap, there were a few probing attacks but no one got away. The bunch was large still at this point and a sprint was looking like the most probable outcome.
Alec Segaert of Bahrain Victorious was the first rider to get any breathing room from the peloton. He made an attack on the Doorn segment with 14KM to go and quickly built a gap of 15 seconds, forcing Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and UAE-XRG to set up a chase. Conspicuous by their absense, Alpecin-Premier Tech completely disappeared from the race and were sitting back, watching everything happen in front of them. A standoff on the front allowed Segaert to extend to 25 seconds and finally, Alpecin-Premier Tech showed themselves at the front. The gap was out to 30 seconds with 6KM to go and fatigue looked like it had taken over the bunch all at once.
Lotto Intermarché, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, and Jayco AlUla set up a more focused chase with 3KM to go which chipped 10 seconds off the gap but it barely budged in the next kilometer. Segaert arrived at the flamme rouge with a 21 second gap with the road rising in front of him up to the finish. Lidl-Trek and XDS-Astana had relatively organized trains coming into the hill but the rest of the bunch was a collage of colors and it was every man for themselves. UAE-XRG made a big acceleration and the gap disintegrated for Segaert. He was still in the lead at 150M from the line when Juan Sebastián Molano of UAE-XRG finally opened his sprint. Jordi Meeus of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech were straight on his wheel. Segaert was caught just 75M from the line when the speed of Philipsen was at its maximum. Philipsen crested the hill and hit the line first with at least a full bike length between him and Meeus. Molano came in for third and Segaert filtered back to finish 20th after an impressive effort out on his own. Philipsen and his team played it cool all day and used their power only in the moments when it mattered the most and came away with another trophy from this Spring campaign.