Tips fantasy leagues classics 2026 | Digging into the big Spring Classics peloton

In Norway, it’s been all about Johannes Klaebo on the front pages after the Winter Olympics, but in the coming weeks there might just be room reserved for Jonas Abrahamsen too. The Norwegian has shown a big part of his preparation on social media and on Strava, and it’s hard not to be impressed by what we’ve seen.

Abrahamsen was already among the strongest riders in both Opening Weekend races last year. At Omloop, he was in the top three over the Bosberg, while in Kuurne he was the only one able to respond on the climb to Tim Wellens’ acceleration. After that, the Norwegian fell ill and the rest of his spring went up in smoke.

In summer and autumn, he still played an important role in Uno-X’s promotion to the WorldTour — the exact platform where he wants to shine himself this spring. If his training data is anything to go by, he should be among the best riders in the big Classics, just behind Pogačar and Van der Poel.

In many fantasy games, you also need to select a few sprinters, and that’s where Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious could be an interesting pick. The Schalke 04 fan — born not far from the Dutch border — is the clear number one sprinter at his team.

Bauhaus isn’t a rider who wins loads in recent years, but he still has the full confidence of his team and he keeps putting himself in the mix. And when he does win, it’s often at WorldTour level: four of his last five victories came in the WorldTour, including two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico.

Perhaps even more important: in 2025 the German decided to ride more Classics, including the Monuments — he finished 23rd at Paris-Roubaix — and he liked the taste of it. So over the coming months, we should see him racing in Belgium more than we have in recent years. Fellow German Max Kanter, who at XDS-Astana will get Mike Teunissen more often as a lead-out man, is also a fun option.

Next up is the number one rider on the UCI ranking of this cycling season — at least up to the start of Omloop: Mauro Schmid of Jayco AlUla. The Swiss rider finished second at the Tour Down Under, fourth at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, won the Muscat Classic, took a stage in the Tour of Oman and ended that race fourth overall.

That’s not exactly a slow start. Next stop is Europe, where Schmid — alongside Michael Matthews — is expected to deliver results in the Classics after Opening Weekend. Last year he was already right on schedule in the hilly Classics, but this time he’s adding a few more races on the way to the Ardennes triple.

The programme of the former Giro gravel stage winner is not fully set in stone yet, but it is certain he will start Milan–Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders. Other races such as Brabantse Pijl — a race Matthews has also added to his calendar — are still possible too, but Schmid doesn’t want to make hasty decisions after such an intense start to the season.

At Alpecin-Premier Tech, a lot of attention will once again go to Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen and also Tibor Del Grosso this spring, but the team also has a very strong “middle unit”. Edward Planckaert is one of those riders who acts like cement between the stones — crucial without always being in the spotlight. He was actually meant to join Soudal Quick-Step, but during a successful Vuelta he changed his mind.

Anyone who looks beyond the results can see how important Planckaert has been in recent years: as lead-out for Philipsen and Kaden Groves, and as support for Van der Poel. Last year, for example, he was the one who brought Van der Poel back to the peloton at full throttle after his crash in the Tour of Flanders.

We saw more standout work in the Giro, where he finished 11th in the brutal gravel stage won by Wout van Aert, and stretched the entire peloton — including Groves — on the finishing climb to the city walls of Vicenza. In autumn, he guided Philipsen to multiple Vuelta stage wins, and he did it so well that he still managed to finish in the top 20 himself six times.

Admittedly, it’s maybe a little cheeky to include the biggest cycling talent of the past few weeks in this list. But it’s still true that the name Paul Seixas won’t ring a bell for a lot of even slightly non-standard cycling fans.

The Frenchman will show himself in a few Classics for the first time this season, after making quite an impression last year at the World Championships, European Championships and Il Lombardia. Last week, he took his first pro victory at the Volta ao Algarve.

Seixas rides the Faun Ardèche Classic on Saturday, and one week later the former cyclocross rider will line up at Strade Bianche — where a podium is not out of the question. In April, he also has the Tour of the Basque Country, Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège on the schedule.

One thing that’s easy to overlook when spring arrives is what happened in the autumn before it. That’s where we noticed Mikkel Honoré starting to approach the level of his breakthrough 2021 season, with a 12th place at the very demanding World Championships in Rwanda and fourth at the Tour of Guangxi. A result at a long race like Worlds never lies.

He wasn’t able to build on that in February at the Tour of Oman due to a crash on the way to Eastern Mountain, but what’s interesting is that the Dane is set for a spring campaign from Omloop all the way to Liège, including the Italian Classics.

What Cofidis sprinter Milan Fretin was in 2025, Tom Crabbe of Flanders Baloise is shaping up to be in 2026: a Belgian sprinter who suddenly announces himself in February with two big wins — and who also has a packed spring programme.

Crabbe first beat Lukas Kubis (Unibet Tietema Rockets / Unibet Rose Rockets) on an uphill finish at Étoile de Bessèges, then added a stage in the Ruta del Sol on Saturday, where he out-sprinted Omloop 2025 winner Søren Wærenskjold.

The 20-year-old Belgian — also a track rider — immediately put himself on the radar of several WorldTour teams. But first, he gets to show himself at races such as Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, Nokere Koerse, the Brugge–De Panne region races and Scheldeprijs. “This season, Tom will definitely get more opportunities,” team manager Hans De Clercq has already assured.

The days when Spanish riders travelled to Flanders feeling intimidated seem to be well and truly gone. Next year we might be talking about Héctor Álvarez of Lidl–Trek, but this season we’re putting Roger Adrià of Movistar forward.

The Spaniard made the move this winter from Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe, where he showed plenty of good things over the past two years. A quick sample: 14th at Amstel Gold Race, fifth at Eschborn–Frankfurt, 11th at Worlds and Il Lombardia in 2024, victory at Circuit Wallonie, sixth at Emilia, third at Coppa Bernocchi and 10th at Strade Bianche.

At Movistar, he gets full freedom, which is interesting — Adrià is a rider who can survive a hill, has speed, and isn’t afraid to fight for position. Though we should be honest: Movistar also have a few similar types in Jon Barrenetxea, Carlos Canal, Iván García Cortina and Orluis Aular.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen some big performances from the heavier types in tougher stages of races like Valencia (Ben Turner) and Algarve (Dylan van Baarle and Liam Slock). That’s often a good measuring stick for Omloop. In that bracket you can also place Riley Sheehan, who finished an impressive ninth overall in Valencia.

The American broke through in 2023 by winning Paris-Tours — as a stagiaire, no less. The season after, he immediately confirmed that level with 13th at the Tour of Flanders and a podium at Eschborn–Frankfurt, but then things stalled a bit.

This year, he remains ambitious with NSN. Early in the season, Sheehan already said he wants to target the toughest races. “I’m striving for a top result in the Spring Classics, especially the Tour of Flanders. I’ve learned a lot from earlier setbacks, and with the strong performances I’ve delivered, I’ve proven to myself that I’m capable of a top result,” he said via his team.

Speaking of top talents: he’s only 19, but last October Albert Withen Philipsen was already on the podium at Tre Valli Varesine and Paris-Tours. The stoic Dane — who was also up there in the spring at U23 Paris-Roubaix (victory), Strade Bianche and Eschborn–Frankfurt — will mix it up in the spring for the first time at the highest level.

Philipsen would have preferred to learn the ropes in Belgium in the shadow of Mads Pedersen, but the good ones arrive quickly. And so it could be that Philipsen — who would also like to ride Strade Bianche and the Ardennes Classics — is already on the mark alongside Vacek and Jakob Söderqvist.