Tour of Flanders 2026 | Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert arrive on Easter Sunday in peak condition

In recent years, the road to Oudenaarde has increasingly become a Tadej Pogačar or Mathieu van der Poel show. The Dutchman won for the first time in 2020, beating Van Aert in the last true head-to-head sprint the two have had. A year later, Kasper Asgreen defeated Van der Poel in a two-man sprint.

Pogačar made his first appearance in 2022, but was outfoxed in the final straight as Van der Poel took the win. One year later, the Slovenian all-round phenomenon did manage to crack his Dutch rival, before Van der Poel struck back in 2024 in Pogačar’s absence.

Last season we were treated to another brilliant direct duel in the Flemish Ardennes, but this time Van der Poel had to concede to Pogačar on the Oude Kwaremont. Mads Pedersen then also beat the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider in the battle for second, while Van Aert finished fourth.

2025 Tadej Pogacar
2024 Mathieu van der Poel
2023 Tadej Pogacar
2022 Mathieu van der Poel
2021 Kasper Asgreen
2020 Mathieu van der Poel
2019 Alberto Bettiol
2018 Niki Terpstra
2017 Philippe Gilbert
2016 Peter Sagan

Brutal, relentlessly brutal: that is what the modern Tour of Flanders route has become, especially with the finale designed by Flanders Classics. This year’s edition starts in Antwerp, the city that has alternated this honour with Bruges in recent years. A full 278 kilometres later, the riders will reach Oudenaarde, which has long since become the race’s fixed finishing town.

From Antwerp, the riders should have enough time to settle in, because there are no serious climbs in the opening 130 kilometres. Ideal, then, for a few riders to slip into the early breakaway, secretly hoping that by doing so they might still earn themselves a place in the finale of this Monument.

After around 140 kilometres, the first obstacle appears, and it is immediately a major one: the Oude Kwaremont, which the riders must tackle three times in total. From the Kwaremont, the race heads over almost twenty kilometres toward the Kortekeer and Wolvenberg, after which the climbs begin to follow one another in rapid succession. The Molenberg, Marlboroughstraat, Berendries and Valkenberg are all waiting not much later.

By the time the race passes the 200-kilometre mark, the legs of many riders will already be filling with fatigue, but then Berg Ten Houte and the Hotond begin a new sequence of climbs. And in 2026, that is usually the phase where the racing becomes truly serious, because at this point the anticipation before the anticipation before the anticipation has to begin.

That is because the biggest names usually make their moves on the crucial climbs: the second passage of the Oude Kwaremont and the first ascent of the Paterberg, roughly 50 kilometres from the finish. Those are followed by the dreaded Koppenberg. Put a foot down there, and your race can be over on that steep cobbled slope.

Any breathing room after the Koppenberg? Barely. Steenbeekdries and Taaienberg follow within ten kilometres, after which the race heads via the Kruisberg to the final two decisive and by now iconic climbs of the day: the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg, for the third and second time respectively.

Once the climbing work is finally done, the riders turn northeast for the final 13 kilometres into Oudenaarde. “Only” 13 kilometres, perhaps, but after everything that has already happened, even that can feel endless.

Weather
There is some chance of rain, but with temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius it should not be too much of a problem. The wind is expected to blow fairly strongly from the northeast, which means it should provide a tailwind in the finale. Naturally, that also means a headwind earlier in the day on the run from Antwerp toward the Flemish Ardennes.

Times
Start: 10 AM local time
Finish: 4:45 PM local time

We have, of course, already seen plenty of racing over the past few weeks, so it is fairly realistic by now to judge who has the best chance in the Tour of Flanders. In our view, that is Tadej Pogačar, the world champion and the man to beat for UAE Emirates-XRG. The Slovenian has more than enough opportunities on this demanding route to make the difference.

Before three-time winner Mathieu van der Poel boarded his flight to Spain after In Flanders Fields, he said as much himself: “I’m going to train well there for another week, and then I hope to be completely ready for Flanders. But against Tadej Pogačar it won’t be easy there.”

Pogačar has used a sledgehammer approach in recent years, applying pressure climb after climb until his rivals crack. In a race such as the Tour of Flanders, with landmarks like the Kwaremont, Paterberg and Koppenberg, the best riders usually rise to the surface. And those riders are very often called Pogačar and Van der Poel, though Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert certainly belong in that conversation too.

The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike showed in In Flanders Fields on Sunday that his form is coming together nicely, putting pressure on the race and following Van der Poel on the Kemmelberg. Pedersen, on the other hand, had to miss that race through illness, which, combined with the injury that had already cost him part of the season, leaves a few more question marks around him.

Looking at overall team strength, Visma | Lease a Bike have more than just Van Aert. They can also count on Christophe Laporte, Per Strand Hagenes and, if he has fully recovered from the flu, Matthew Brennan. In theory, that gives the team several cards to play, although in the modern Tour of Flanders that is easier said than done.

After all, every rider has only so much energy to spend, and Pogačar also has an exceptionally strong line-up around him at UAE Emirates-XRG. Florian Vermeersch has been among the best riders this spring, while Nils Politt, Antonio Morgado and Mikkel Bjerg, who finished third, fourth and fifth in the 2024 edition respectively, are all normally expected to be there as well.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe have also shown this spring that they are a team to take seriously, so they too will be hoping for at least a top-five finish in Flanders. Their likely options, with Remco Evenepoel absent, are Tim van Dijke, Mick van Dijke, Laurence Pithie, Jan Tratnik and Gianni Vermeersch.

Soudal Quick-Step have two riders in Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven who know exactly what it takes to turn up at Flanders and come away with a major result, while Paul Magnier and Laurenz Rex add more depth. At Lotto-Intermarché, hopes will rest on a standout ride from Arnaud De Lie or Jenno Berckmoes.

In that same category, a broad group of riders capable of fighting for a top 10, we place Matej Mohorič, Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), Daan Hoole, Oliver Naesen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Kasper Asgreen, Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Romain Grégoire, Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Joshua Tarling, Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Mike Teunissen (XDS-Astana), Dylan Teuns (Cofidis) and Matteo Trentin (Tudor).

Top favorite: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)

Sporza begins its full live broadcast at 09:15, with Eurosport 1 and HBO Max starting half an hour later. Dutch public broadcaster NPO will also show the Tour of Flanders, from 13:10 on television and via a livestream on NOS.nl.