June 7, 2026
With the Giro firmly in the rear view mirror, riders will be setting their sights on upcoming objectives. The Brussels Cycling Classic is a good warm up race for the sprinters to build racing feel before the big bunch sprints in the Tour de France, but the course is not all flat. After rolling out of Etterbeek next to the eye catching U-shaped structure of the Parc du Cinquantenaire, the riders head to Overijse and the roads of Brabantse Pijl for the first phase of the race. Phase two moves the riders West into East Flanders for three, 29 km laps of the famous Muur van Geraardsbergen-Bosberg combination along with the mostly paved Congoberg. The top of the third passage of the Congoberg comes with 47 mostly flat kilometers to the finish in Brussels. One cobbled sector of the Rosweg preceeds the short climb up the Heiligekruiswegstraat but neither should trouble the sprinters who will likely come to the line together for the finish near the Atomium.
Highlighted Riders
Simon Dehairs, Marijn van den Berg, Paul Penhoët, Toon Aerts, Biniam Girmay, Riley Sheehan, Jordi Meeus, Laurence Pithie, Anders Foldager, Søren Wærenskjold, Jonas Abrahamsen, Stanisław Aniołkowski, Milan Fretin, Matteo Moschetti, Tom Crabbe, Anthony Turgis, Arvid De Kleijn
Race Summary
An overcast day developed as the riders came to the sign-on and team presentation but the forecast was for dry roads so there was no concern for inclement weather. When the flag dropped, it took a few attacks but five riders managed to break free to form the early move. Those riders were Titouan Fontaine of Groupama-FDJ United, Marius Mayrhofer of Tudor Pro Cycling, Casper Pedersen of Soudal Quickstep, Sébastien Grignard of Lotto Intermarché, and Henrik Pedersen of Uno-X Mobility. Their maximum advantage was 3 minutes 45 seconds and with 90 km remaining, they still had 3 minutes 20 seconds on their way to the Muur van Geraardsbergen for second time. The bunch raced into Geraardsbergen, up the Vesten through town, and onto the cobbles. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Tudor Pro Cycling were best positioned and kept the pace quick up and over the climb. By the bottom of the Bosberg, Mayrhofer had dropped out of the break and the gap was down to 2 minutes 50 seconds.
The bunch rode the Bosberg and the Congoberg much more conservatively under the pace making of NSN Cycling and Cofidis. On the back half of the lap, the riders passed through Tollembeek, Gaalmarden, and Moerbeke on wide, straight roads into a head wind which suited the peloton. With 62 km to go, the peloton was wide across the road, fighting for position with the tight streets of Geraardsbergen approaching in less than 4 km.
The race into Geraardsbergen provided flashbacks to the Spring Classics as the bunch went into full lead out mode just to arrive at the bottom of the Muur as far forward as possible. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Uno-X Mobility, NSN Cycling, and Cofidis had their leaders well to the front but it was Alpecin-Premier Tech that lifted the pace on the cobbles and strung the peloton into single file. Up around the Kapel op de Oudenberg, little gaps started to form and riders were being shed out the back. About 35 riders coalesced on the road towards the Bosberg with a larger chase around 25 seconds back which was comprised of roughly 50 riders.
Flanders Baloise was leading the chase group but they could not close the gap before the Bosberg. On the cobbles, Fontaine was dropped from the front group, Lotto Intermarché was pressing as hard as they could to pull the first split clear, and Jayco AlUla had taken up the chasing duties in the main group. Regardless of the group, every rider was grimacing under the pressure and fighting to stay in contact with the riders they were with. Over the top with 53 km to go, the three remaining leaders had 45 seconds on the first split which was fracturing with the rest of the peloton a further 20 seconds back.
Over the Congoberg, the gaps to all groups were closing. Impetus in the first chase group was waning because the leaders present had few teammates to do the work and they marked each other out. Flanders Baloise organized a coherent chase with five riders and brought the first chase group back with 42 km to go to reset the race for the finale. The break had 35 seconds at this point with the exit of the circuit just ahead.
Flanders Baloise went straight to the front of the peloton to stabilize the pace and start the march towards the finish. The gap slowly crept up to 1 minute before other teams came forward to offer assistance. Cofidis and Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe each put a man in the rotation and the extra firepower had a big impact. With 20 km remaining, the gap was down to 25 seconds as the bunch continued to clink along the betonweg towards the Rosweg.
Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe ripped the Rosweg cobbles which forced riders to scramble into the smooth rain gutters to stay in the slipstream. Only 9 seconds separated the break from the peloton off the Rosweg and that evaporated immediately as a counter attack came from Lotto Intermarché at the foot of the Heiligekruiswegstraat. Toon Aerts was the instigator but he could not snap the elastic. Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility countered as did Jonas Geens of Alpecin-Premier Tech but both moves were swiftly covered and shut down. More riders tried to go off the front but there was a phalanx of NSN Cycling riders marking the moves which tempered the attacking. Before NSN Cycling could start setting a controlling pace, Erik Nordsæter Resell of Uno-X Mobility gave it one last roll of the dice to get away. He managed to stay out front from 10 km to go but the sprint teams were swarming with refreshed energy and baring down on the Norwegian. The catch was made with 6 km to go and countered once again by Abrahamsen but he was marked by nearly every teammate of a sprinter and was hauled back 1 km later.
With 2 km to go, NSN Cycling were leading but their resources were diminished after so much work had been done in the earlier phases. Picnic-PostNL, Cofidis, Tudor Pro Cycling, and Groupama-FDJ United were all queuing up behind and waiting for their moment to move forward. Picnic-PostNL took the final corner first coming into 1 km to go but they seemed hesitant to commit and the speed was not as quick as it should have been. About one-third of the way down the group, a touch of wheels brought down Stanisław Aniołkowski of Cofidis and Alberto Dainese of Soudal Quickstep which was likely a result of the momentary slowing. Vincenzo Albanese of EF-Education EasyPost took advantage of this moment to send a flyer. He was looking good until Tudor Pro Cycling and Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe each opened their lead outs which shifted the speed into another dimension. Albanese was caught with 200 meters to go by Tobias Müller of Unibet Rose Rockets who opened the sprint first. 100 meters later, Jordi Meeus of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe came level with Müller but Biniam Girmay of NSN Cycling was also in the game, just off the right hip of Meeus. Meeus continued powering up the slight 1% grade and looked to have a comfortable win until the last 25 meters when Milan Fretin of Cofidis came with a run. Fretin passed Müller and lunged for the line but came up just short. Meeus took the victory by the depth of the rim to Fretin with Girmay holding his spot for third place.