April 5, 2026
The 110th edition of the Tour of Flanders, "Vlaanderens Mooiste", has arrived. There have been nine Belgian Classics throughout the Spring that have all been leading up to this point, the second Monument of the season. With 80% of the population in Belgium either standing on the roadside or watching the race on television, the Tour of Flanders is a cultural phenomenon that has few comparisons. Antwerp will host the start where the sign-on will be more similar to a rave than a bike race. After the last team is called up, the riders will mount their bikes and head out for 278 grueling kilometers before they can finally climb off again at the finish in Oudenaarde. The first 140 km are almost entirely flat as the riders pass through the traditional towns of Sint-Niklaas and Lede before finally reaching Oudenaarde and the familiar hills of the Flemish Ardennes. First up is the Oude Kwaremont which will be taken on three times. The first series of tests begins 15 km later with 120 km to go with the Eikenberg, Holleweg, Wolvenberg, Kerkgate, Jagerij, Molenberg, Marlboroughstraat, and Berendries all coming within a 25 km stretch. The next 40 km are more docile with just the Valkenberg, Berg Ten Houte, and Nieuwe Kruisberg before the finale begins on the second passage of the Oude Kwaremont with 54 km remaining. The Paterberg, Koppenberg, Taaienberg, Oude Kruisberg/Hotond follow with one more short loop to take on the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg one last time for good measure. There will be just 13 km from the top of the Paterberg to the finish where one rider will get to add their name to the distinguished list of winners of this great race.
Highlighted Riders:
Tadej Pogačar, Florian Vermeersch, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Gianni Vermeersch, Mads Pedersen, Romain Grégoire, Alec Segaert, Matej Mohorič, Michael Valgren, Biniam Girmay, Jonas Abrahamsen, Matteo Trentin, Luca Mozzato
Race Summary
The rain from previous days had dried up but the weather system brought in a grey and misty day with a touch of cold and wind mixed in. The crowd at the start in Antwerp however gave the riders a warm send-off as a shot fired to start the neutral roll-out. Those lined up on the bumper of Scott Sunderland's race director car were puffing their cheeks with anticipation as their job to make the break was just ahead. As expected, there were many teams interested in going up the road and the first 20 km were very cagey with a sticky headwind that kept things together. The same teams were ever-present at the front, primarily Flanders-Baloise, Picnic-PostNL, and EF-Education Easypost but no one could force a gap with the breeze in their face. Through Sint-Niklaas, a strong group of 13 riders got away and it looked like the break of the day. Word filtered through the bunch that Silvan Dillier of Alpecin-Premier Tech had made the split and UAE-XRG immediately went to the front to control. Movistar and Tudor Pro Cycling were disappointed to not have made the move and tried to bridge up but UAE-XRG shut the attacking down and started to ride a controlling pace.
With Dillier up front was Luke Lamperti of EF-Education EasyPost, Connor Swift of Ineos, Dries De Pooter of Jayco AlUla, Julius van den Berg of Picnic-PostNL, Edoardo Zamperini of Cofidis, Frederik Frison of Pinarello Q36.5, Jambaljamts Sainbayar and Eric Antonio Fagúndez of Burgos-Burpellet BH, Victor Vercouillie of Flanders-Baloise, Hartthijs De Vries of Unibet Rose Rockets, Kamil Gradek of Bahrain Victorious, and Luca Van Boven of Lotto Intermarché. Mikkel Bjerg was charged with the task of keeping the break in check and had them at 2 minutes 20 seconds over the Schedlt and through Dendermonde with 228 km to go.
The first drama of the day came with 212 km to go when the peloton was split in half due to the barriers coming down over a level crossing. The break weren't forced to wait but the jury required the first half of the bunch to wait for the second half. UAE-XRG weren't happy given all of the work they had put in and by the time the peloton was knitted together, the gap had grown to over 5 minutes. The race settled into a holding pattern with Bjerg managing the break at 5 minutes as they arrived in Zottegem with 172 km remaining with the cobbled Lippenhovestraat a few kilometers up the road.
Out of Zottegem, riders got in color order with their team principles in tow. The gap was such that the break was on the Paddestraat before the bunch arrived to the Lippenhovestraat. The push to get into position however brought lead below 5 minutes for the first time in over 30 km. Bjerg continued to push the watts on the front and actually split the peloton off the Paddestraat through Hundelgem. It took over 10 km but the group did come back together. Every little acceleration made would be paid for by the end of the day and the extra effort by those stuck behind would not have been welcomed.
Crowds grew larger and larger as the kilometers passed by and when the break reached Oudenaarde and the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen, they were over flowing. Bjerg had brought the gap down to 4 minutes 30 seconds but it was back up to 5 minutes as the last natural breaks were taken before the first of three passages of the Oude Kwaremont. The front of the bunch became more lively with 139 km to go but even as they jostled for position, the gap went up to 5 minutes 25 seconds as the break passed through tunnels of spectators at the bottom of the Kwaremont. Tens of thousands of people were peering through every crack they could find to get a glimpse of the race as it passed by. It was all calm in the peloton when they reached the cobbles with Groupama-FDJ United, Tudor Pro Cycling, and Ineos blocking across the road. The gap stayed stable over the top as the sun came out and sharp shadows accompanied the riders on their blustery trip across the Hotond to the Eikenberg.
Bjerg emptied the tank to keep UAE-XRG in position and got a pat on the back from Tadej Pogačar as the fight for position intensified. XDS-Astana and Visma-Lease a Bike came forward to challenge and it was a full drag race at 70 km/hr into the right turn off the main road. Visma-Lease a Bike won the corner and the pace wound back down with the road narrow enough to temporarily block. No action came in the bunch on the Eikenberg but in the break, Swift took a spill on a right cobbled corner over the top of the Eikenberg, and just after the Holleweg. He was quick to get back in the break but was quite scuffed as a result.
Alpecin-Premier Tech made their first appearance at the front at the base of the Wolvenberg at 115 km to go. Immediately from the bottom, Groupama-FDJ United sent a rider on the attack. No gaps formed but it did stretch the peloton and it signaled a start of the hostilities. The bunch was stretched through the lanes that run between the Holleweg and the Kerkgate which made life very difficult for those at the back. Tomáš Kopecký of Unibet Rose Rockets snuck away at the start of the Kerkgate which had the effect of settling the peloton for a moment. Kopecký was caught a few kilometers later before the Jagerij as the peloton set their sights on the all-important Molenberg laying just 6 km up the road.
UAE-XRG went full to keep Pogačar at the front with Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Remco Evenepoel tucked in behind. The wind was whipping from the right side and riders started to pull out of the line, making gaps in the peloton on the approach to the Molenberg. The speed and the wind made the left turn slightly less contested than it otherwise would have been but the difficulty level was just as high as UAE-XRG continued to pile on the pressure. It was Florian Vermeersch that led into the Molenberg. He did serious damage to the group, by the top with 102 km to go, only 16 riders were left in the favorites group. The gap to the break was cut down to 2 minutes 30 seconds but they were an after thought to UAE-XRG whose only goal was to isolate the competition as early as possible. Of the favorites, Pogačar was present in the front group along with Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek, Matteo Trentin of Tudor Pro Cycling, Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike, Matej Mohorič of Bahrain Victorious, Jasper Stuyven of Soudal Quickstep, Stan Dewulf of Decathlon CMA CGM, and Magnus Sheffield of Ineos along with a handful of teammates.
At the start of the Berendries, the original break were 2 minutes 15 seconds ahead of the favorites group with the rest of the peloton another 30 seconds behind. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe had the most numbers in the favorites group and they were not shy about pulling on the long stretches of open road after the Berendries to the Valkenberg. A storm came across the Flandrian countryside and hit the riders with heavy rain. Blue sky returned just moments later at the start of the Valkenberg but the chances of the peloton regaining contact were darkening as they had slipped to 1 minute from the favorites.
Contact was made between the favorites group and the original break with 78 km to go on the way to the Berg Ten Houte to make a group of nearly 30 riders. A few members of the original break were dropped on the Ten Houte but the group was largely together as the descended into Ronse to start the Nieuwe Kruisberg/Hotond. The Nieuwe Kruisberg was ridden steadily but on the Hotond, a wheel was let go and Florian Vermeersch got a gap with Swift and Rick Pluimers of Tudor Pro Cycling. Christophe Laporte of Visma-Lease a Bike stitched it back together and the group took the opportunity for a drink and a gel before the second passage of the Oude Kwaremont.
The favorites group started the Kwaremont 1 minute 40 seconds before the peloton who were out of the game at this point. Before the cobbles began, Pogačar accelerated and the group was split. Van Aert and Pedersen were straight on this wheel but van der Poel was out of position and had to pass a number of riders to get in line. After the first steep section of cobbles, Pedersen was losing the wheel and van der Poel was forced to close another gap. Evenepoel took longer to get around Pedersen but joined up right before the top to make the group of riders everyone was hoping would form: Pogačar, van Aert, van der Poel, and Evenepoel. Unfortunately for Van Aert, he lost a few seconds in the last 100 meters of the climb and lost contact. He was 4 seconds down as they turned onto the Ronse Baan but the margin only widened on the run to the Paterberg.
Evenepoel led into the Paterberg but Pogačar took over on the steepest section and distanced the Belgian by the top. It was just 3 seconds but any gap to close was going to be extremely difficult with Pogačar and van der Poel relaying at the front. Evenepoel was holding at 3-4 seconds but the mighty Koppenberg arrived and Pogačar hit the gas once more. Van der Poel had the match of the Slovenian and the pair crested with 45 km to go after having put at least 20 seconds into Evenepoel in just 500 meters. Evenepoel never gave up and did an incredible ride to come within 5 seconds of the leaders but the obstacles were relentless and Evenepoel drifted again on the Mariaborrestraat.
The Taaienberg, Oude Kruisberg, and Hotond came and went with ever-expanding gaps. At the top of the Hotond with 26 km to go, Evenepoel was 25 seconds behind Pogačar and van der Poel with Pedersen and van Aert together at 1 minute 10 seconds. As the leaders approached the Oude Kwaremont for the final time, the enthusiasm of the fans was on full display which made for an electric atmosphere as the road started to tip upwards. Pogačar raised the pace and when he hit the cobbles, he already had a bike length on van der Poel. Pogačar flew towards the top, passed the stadium seating with people standing 10 deep, but van der Poel didn't completely capitulate. The gap was 6 seconds as they turned onto the Ronse Baan but grew to 12 seconds by the left turn down towards Paterberg. Another 6 seconds were added as Pogačar pedaled over the last cobble at the top of the Paterberg and the podium was all be set. The final 13 km breezed by with only the second half of the top 10 to be decided. Pogačar came into the finish straight and crossed the line to take his third win in the Tour of Flanders, matching the likes of van der Poel, Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Johan Museeuw, Eric Leman, Fiorenzo Magni, and Achiel Buysse. Van der Poel came home 34 seconds later for second place with Evenepoel getting the loudest cheer of all when he finished 1 minute 11 seconds down, rounding out the podium in his first appearance in De Ronde. Honorable mentions for fourth and fifth go to van Aert and Pedersen.