March 20, 2026
Yesterday we had the mini Paris-Roubaix and we'll continue the theme with today's mini-Gent-Wevelgem. The first 70KM of Bredene Koksijde are pan flat as the riders make their towards the hill zone in the farthest corner of West Flanders. The Baneberg, Monteberg, and Kemmelberg will all be ridden with the Baneberg and Kemmelberg taken on twice. 95% of the elevation gain in the race will be completed by 115KM from the finish but the hills are not the only obstacle found in this part of the world. With around 50KM to go, the race passes through De Moeren, a stretch of road that is slightly elevated above the marshes and is renowned for its crosswinds. Once through De Moeren, the riders will reach the beach town of Koksijde for three laps of a reasonably technical finish circuit for what is almost always a full bunch sprint.
Highlighted Riders
Tim Torn Teutenberg, Alberto Dainese, Paul Penhoët, Gerben Thijssen, Vito Braet, Oded Kogut, Juan Sebastián Molano, Pavel Bittner, Erlend Blikra, Max Kanter, Stanisław Aniołkowski, Matteo Moschetti, Emilien Jeannière, Luca Mozzato, Dylan Groenewegen, Pascal Ackermann, Ben Oliver
Race Summary
Any worry of rain or bad weather was completely erased from the minds of the riders when they woke up to find clear and calm conditions out of their windows. After the race got underway, a small group got clear to form the early break. The group consisted of Victor Vercouillie of Flanders Baloise, Max Kroonen of BEAT CC p/b Saxo, and Gianni Marchand of Tarteletto-Isorex. On the first passage of the Kemmelberg, counter attacks came from Vito Braet of Lotto Intermarché and Dries De Bondt of Jayco AlUla but neither of those riders were able to bridge to the front group. A successful attack did come from Warre Vangheluwe of Soudal Quickstep and Yorben Lauryssen of Tarteletto-Isorex and with 82KM to go, the five leaders were just 25 seconds ahead of a group of eleven riders with the rest of the peloton less than 30 seconds further adrift.
The group first chase group included Max Walscheid of Lidl-Trek, Yves Lampaert of Soudal Quickstep, Axel Huens of Groupama-FDJ United, Roel Van Sintmaartensdijk of Lotto Intermarché, Rui Oliveira of UAE-XRG, Luka Mezgec of Jayco AlUla, Frits Biesterbos of Picnic-PostNL, Jonas Hem Hvideberg of Uno-X Mobility, Alexis Renard of Cofidis, Aivaras Mikutis of Tudor Pro Cycling, and Tobias Müller of Unibet Rose Rockets. The peloton was getting closer but it was also splitting under the pressure and the breath of wind that was present.
With 75KM to go, the first two groups connected with the peloton just 15 seconds back. Uno-X Mobility had representation in the front but they were the primary team working to bring everything back together, which they did with 75KM to go. Not more than a minute passed until counter attacks started to go. A group of six broke clear with Gil Gelders of Soudal Quickstep, Cedric Beullens of Lotto Intermarché, Henrik Pedersen of Uno-X Mobility, Rayan Boulahoite of TotalEnergies, Jelle Vermoote of Tarteletto-Isorex, and Michiel Coppens of BEAT CC p/b Saxo. UAE-XRG took up the chase but it was more of a controlling pace which allowed the gap to reach 30 seconds relatively quickly.
The lead group arrived at De Moeren with 52KM to go with a gap of 1 minute 10 seconds. Even with the limited wind, the group was set up in an echelon with the breeze hitting their right shoulder. When the peloton arrived, they split into three pieces but as the front part of the bunch turned off the exposed road, they took a breath and the dropped groups were all able to rejoin. The gap went from 40 seconds to back over 1 minute which forced the bunch to reorganize. With 37KM to go, Alpecin-Premier Tech, Picnic-PostNL, UAE-XRG, and Unibet Rose Rockets started swapping turns but, by the finish line with 3 laps and 33KM to go, the gap was still 1 minute 5 seconds.
Next time around, the gap was 45 seconds with 23KM to go as Erlend Blikra, sprinter for Uno-X Mobility, was chasing a further 20 seconds back after a fall 2KM earlier. Lidl-Trek came to the front to add firepower and stay in better position. When they took the bell for one lap to go, the gap was a mear 18 seconds. The break wasn't giving up however and they made the peloton fight for every inch. Cohesion started to break down in the lead group with 3.5KM to go and Henrik Pedersen went clear. Beullens joined him but a rush came behind under the impetus of NSN Cycling which brought the race all back together with 1,500M remaining.
Through one of the last corners with about 500M to go, Unibet Rose Rockets were leading with Steffen De Schuyteneer of Lotto Intermarché in second wheel, followed by Edward Theuns of Lidl-Trek, and Dylan Groenewegen of Unibet Rose Rockets. Out of the final turn at 300M, De Schuyteneer was stuck on the front and forced to open his sprint. Theuns came around but it too still too long to go, even in a tail wind. The goldilocks position was taken by Groenewegen who only had to hit the wind for 175M. He went into top speed with 100M to go and sailed across the line for a convincing victory. A few spots behind Groenewegen through the final corner was Pavel Bittner of Picnic-PostNL and Pascal Ackermann of Jayco AlUla. Bittner maneuvered through the chaos and found a gap on the left side of the road. He looked to be the closest challenger to Groenewegen but he left the barrier side open and Ackermann was able to sneak through to take second place on the bike throw.