2026 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Results & Recap
2026 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
The rise of budding British star Matthew Brennan (TVL) continued when the 20-year-old repaid the sterling work done by his teammates to take a debut Classics victory at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. After being led out in the bunch sprint by French teammate Christophe Laporte, Brennan scorched clear of his rivals, winning by three bike lengths ahead of Tudor Pro Cycling duo Luca Mozzato (TUD) and Matteo Trentin (TUD).
The pace was very rapid from the start and it took the best part of an hour for the break of the day to form, seven riders making the cut: Johan Jacobs (GFC), Roger Adrià (MOV), Matis Louvel (NSN), Dries De Bondt (JAY), Storm Ingebrigtsen (UXM), Cole Kessler (MAP) and Frits Biesterbos (TPP). They built up a lead of just over four minutes, before the bunch began to react and chase.
There were 13 climbs packed into the first two-thirds of the race, and the break was caught just after the last of them, the Kluisberg. While defending champion Jasper Philipsen (APT) had looked strong on the last of those climbs, several of his sprint rivals failed to hold the pace, notably Jonathan Milan (LTK) and Biniam Girmay (NSN).
On the open roads that followed the climbs, there were numerous attacks in the cross-winds, but none of the escape groups were able to gain a lead of more than 30 seconds and all of them were reeled in. Over the closing 20km, Decathlon CMA CGM Team and Team Visma | Lease a Bike kept a tight rein on the peloton, their pace high enough to prevent any significant attacks.
Come the finale, Visma had the numbers and position to put Brennan right where he needed to be and once he came off Laporte's wheel there was never any doubt about the winner.
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