Brabantse Pijl 2026 preview | Who takes the spoils after Pidcock withdraws?

Paris-Roubaix is done, the Amstel Gold Race is coming: that means we first turn our attention to the Brabantse Pijl, the traditional transition dish between the cobbles and the hills. IDL Pro Cycling gets you race-ready for the Belgian one-day race, where a fresh cast of contenders awaits.

What applies to virtually every race these days is certainly true of the Brabantse Pijl: every edition matters. Mathieu van der Poel (2019), Julian Alaphilippe (2020) and Tom Pidcock (2021) all feature on the winners' list. Further back you find names like Tim Wellens and Philippe Gilbert. Last year, another famous Belgian was added.

In 2023 and 2024, Decathlon AG2R celebrated through Benoît Cosnefroy and Dorian Godon. Last season it came down to a dream duel between Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert south-east of Brussels. The double Olympic champion, then still riding for Soudal Quick-Step, surprisingly beat his compatriot in a two-up sprint. Neither rider — nor their teams Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Visma | Lease a Bike — will be at the start this year.

2025 Remco Evenepoel
2024 Benoit Cosnefroy
2023 Dorian Godon
2022 Magnus Sheffield
2021 Tom Pidcock
2020 Julian Alaphilippe
2019 Mathieu van der Poel
2018 Tim Wellens
2017 Sonny Colbrelli
2016 Petr Vakoc

The Brabantse Pijl traditionally started in the university city of Leuven, but since 2025 the race begins in Beersel. The opening climbs are there too, though whether ascents like the Chaussée d'Alsemberg (1.6 km at 2.8%) and Bruineput (1.2 km at 5.7%) will influence the race remains to be seen.

What will shape the race is a significant shortening: from 195 kilometres last year to just 160 kilometres. That is largely down to the move on the calendar from Wednesday to Friday. With the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, the organisers do not want to cut too deeply into the legs of riders combining both races.

The action centres on the finishing circuit in and around Overijse, featuring several climbs familiar from the 2021 World Championships. The Hertstraat (0.7 km at 4.7%), Moskesstraat (0.5 km at 4.9%), Holstheide (1 km at 5.3%) and the S-bocht (1.3 km at 4.2%) must be tackled multiple times on the local loops. The final few hundred metres in Overijse also kick upward. In between, some flatter stretches offer a chance to regroup.

The weather on Friday looks fine. Expect around 18°C with the sun making occasional appearances. A light south-westerly breeze is forecast.

Note: the start list has not yet been officially confirmed, so this section is subject to change.

An updated provisional start list appeared on Tuesday. Compared to the initial list, the names of injured riders including Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), Jan Christen, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE) and Joe Blackmore (NSN) have all been removed.

With Evenepoel and Van Aert absent, there are no stand-out stars of last year's calibre. But what is not there yet could still come. Romain Grégoire could be a fine name on the winners' list for Groupama-FDJ, now and especially in years to come. With Valentin Madouas, Rudy Molard, Quentin Pacher and Ewen Costiou in support, the French squad is going in strong.

Another familiar name is in-form rider Mauro Schmid, who will hope to carry his excellent early-season form into the upcoming four-race block for Jayco AlUla. He too has riders who can last deep into the finale, including Filippo Conca, Alessandro Covi, Anders Foldager and Davide de Pretto.

At the Volta NXT Classic the day before the Tour of Flanders, Schmid nearly won — had it not been for a certain Tibor Del Grosso from Alpecin-Premier Tech beating him to the line. After riding Paris-Roubaix, Del Grosso is back on Friday, alongside his emerging teammate Senna Remijn, who also impressed in Catalonia and the Volta NXT Classic.

At UAE Emirates-XRG, the puzzle continues with all their injury problems. But with former winners Benoît Cosnefroy and Tim Wellens — who could potentially return after his Kuurne crash — they have two quality names on the start list. Florian Vermeersch is also listed, though he came off worst on the cobbles at Paris-Roubaix.

Lotto-Intermarché have targeted the Brabantse Pijl with Jenno Berckmoes, Toon Aerts and Milan Menten. Soudal Quick-Step can call on Max Schachmann, Pascal Eenkhoorn and Andrea Raccagni Noviero. At Pinarello-Q36.5, the withdrawal of Pidcock leaves Quinten Hermans and Xandro Meurisse as the main options.

EF Education-EasyPost have Alex Baudin, Mikkel Honoré, Samuele Battistella and Lukas Nerurkar for the finale. Bahrain Victorious line up Pau Miquel, Attila Valter and Sanremo top-ten finisher Edoardo Zambanini. Cofidis bring Dylan Teuns and Bryan Coquard, while the Unibet Rose Rockets (Clément Venturini) and TotalEnergies (Sandy Dujardin and Joris Delbove) rely on French spearheads. Uno-X field Andreas Leknessund, Anthon Charmig and Ådne Holter, and Caja Rural Seguros will hope for a big ride from Alex Molenaar or Eduard Prades.

Top favorites: Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)

The Brabantse Pijl is traditionally brought into the living room by Sporza and Eurosport. From 3 p.m. you can catch the men's race on VRT 1, while Eurosport will be there from around 3:15 p.m. with live coverage after the women's finish. On HBO Max they will also be there around that time, but will also bring you the women's race ending around 2:30 p.m. from 12:45 p.m. onwards.