August 20, 2026
Overnight, the race moved to West Flanders for a traditional stage from Blankenberge on the beaches of the North Sea to Ardooie in the heart of Flanders. When the riders leave Blankenberge, they will head due South on a course of 174 km with less than 500 meters of elevation gain across the full distance. The only thing that could break up the race is the wind and, if the storms from yesterday continue, it could certainly happen. With 78 km to go, the race will enter a 14 km finish circuit which will be taken on five times. The Green Kilometer has been deftly placed about 3 km from the finish line coming into the bell lap which may tempt some riders in the peloton to jump clear if the break is close or already caught. The last corner is a quick right-left with 1.2 km to go then a wide and fast run to the line for another likely bunch sprint.
Race Summary
The weather system that afflicted yesterday's race passed but a proper breeze took its place which only got exacerbated along the open coastline. Wind was sustained at 25 km/hr but had gusts up to 50 km/hr and due to those conditions, the neutral went on for a lot longer than originally planned and the race didn't get under way until 150 km to go. The combination of wind, narrow farm roads, and a constant change of direction meant that when we got to live coverage with 88 km to go, the race was within around 30 seconds in three different pieces. Three leaders, Mikkel Bjerg of UAE-XRG, Niklas Behrens of Visma-Lease a Bike, and Michiel Lambrecht of Flanders Baloise, had 20 seconds on the main body of the peloton and a third group of maybe 30 riders was chasing another 15 seconds back. The crops were swirling in their neatly planted rows and riders were scrambling for any bit of shelter that they could find.
The three leaders were caught as they passed through Koolskamp with 84 km to go and most riders from the second split made their back on to join the main bunch. Every opportunity to try and split the peloton was taken by one team or another but it did calm for a moment as the riders passed the Rysselende windmill in Ardooie and approached the finish line.
At 67 km to go, 3 km from the finish line for 4 laps to go, a touch of wheels by an Alpecin-Premier Tech rider at the front of the peloton caused a mass crash with at least 30 riders on ground, including race leader Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek. Those who were not held up by the crash were blocked across the road but that not stop Dries De Bondt of Jayco AlUla from attacking. The Belgian went through the finish line about 10 seconds ahead of the first peloton with more riders in smaller groups chasing on behind. De Bondt dangled out front until 56 km to go when he was caught after a turn into a block head wind. The subdued nature of the bunch was starting to turn back into race mode with cross winds coming after the next turn.
Nothing happened in the wind and the bunch came in together for 3 laps to go all blocked together. The race was renewed with 48 km to go out of town. After being in the break in the first half of the race, Bjerg had enough energy to try and split the race. Tudor Pro Cycling got involved and splits did form down the group, more due to a series of turns on narrow roads than the wind, but splits nonetheless.
Everything was calm once more as the riders turned back into a headwind on a tight road at 38 km from the finish. There was absolutely no chance of moving up for anyone more than twenty wheels back unless through some cyclocross maneuver into the grass. With Milan many minutes back and out of contention, Lidl-Trek sent Edward Theuns up the road to see what he could do. As Theuns was going clear, the cameras picked up Laurence Pithie of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe at the back of the peloton. The Kiwi had almost all of his skin suit ripped off his back with the remnants flapping in the wind but generally seemed to be fine.
Coming into 2 laps to go, XDS-Astana picked up the chase and were 15 seconds behind Theuns. Leaving Ardooie, buildings gave way to fields and the roads were twisting, making it perfect to squeeze on the power. UAE-XRG tried again and had the entire peloton in single file as riders on the back were getting jettisoned from the group.
The Bonus Sprint was up ahead at 19.5 km to go and De Bondt came forward, probing the interest of the others for the seconds. He wasn't the only one interested however and the speed wound up coming into the sprint. Bahrain Victorious led out for Vlad Van Mechelen but he was out-dualled by Matteo Trentin of Tudor Pro Cycling who took 3 seconds, Van Mechelen 2 seconds, and Connor Swift of Netcompany-Ineos with 1 second. XDS-Astana went 1-2 in the second sprint with Mike Teunissen and Aaron Gate then Jenno Berckmoes of Lotto Intermarché in third. Arnaud De Lie of Lotto Intermarché was led out nicely for the third sprint, taking 3 seconds ahead of Paul Lapeira of Decathlon CMA CGM and Filippo Fiorelli of Visma-Lease a Bike.
Unlike other laps, there were no attempts to split the race out of town on this final circuit. Teams were setting up for a full bunch sprint and were lined up in team order for the drag race into each and every corner. As the riders came up to 3 km to go, every inch of the road was taken at the front of the bunch. Tudor Pro Cycling decided it was time to go and they set three riders in front of Arvid De Kleijn and increased the pace. They were washed away as quickly as they came and were replaced by Decathlon CMA CGM at the front for Olav Kooij. The French squad took the chicane safely through 1,800 meters to go but they lost Kooij in the shuffle and were looking back to find him. Inside 1 km, it was completely disorganized at the front. Decathlon CMA CGM stopped pulling, Unibet Rose Rockets were present and looking to work but Dylan Groenewegen was not in the helicopter camera shot and it was Marijn van den Berg of EF-Education EasyPost who opened the sprint first with 250 meters to go. On his wheel was Søren Wærenskjold of Uno-X Mobility and Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech. The road straightened out with 200 meters to go and Philipsen launched out of Wærenskjold's slip steam and the job was done within a few pedal strokes. The jump was decisive and Philipsen came home first with a convincing win, the third win of his career in Ardooie. Joshua Giddings of Lotto Intermarché followed Philipsen through the sprint to take second place ahead of Wærenskjold who held on for third.
Jonathan Milan rode the final hour and a half with his teammate Simone Consonni and finished the day over 20 minutes behind and ceded the race leadership to Philipsen. Kooij remains in second at 4 seconds with De Bondt still in third, also on 4 seconds.