2026 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Results & Recap
2026 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Mathieu van der Poel (APT) became the first rider in a quarter of a century to win Omloop Nieuwsblad on his debut in the race after riding solo to victory in Ninove.
The Dutchman emulated the feat last achieved by Michele Bartoli in 2001 after attacking from a six-rider breakaway group on the legendary Muur at Geraarsbergen, the penultimate of a dozen climbs in the 207.2km race. Twenty seconds clear at the top of that fabled ascent, he finished 22 seconds ahead of Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who outsprinted Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates XRG) to claim second place.
The break of the day formed soon after the start, Jelte Krijnsen (JAY) the initiator. He rode solo for a few kilometers until Alexis Renard (COF), Clement Alleno (BBH), Alexys Brunel (TEN) and Vincent Van Hemelen (TFB) bridged across to him.
The winning move began on the climb of the Molenberg with 45km remaining. Vermeersch led the peloton onto it, ahead of Tudor's Rick Pluimers and Van der Poel. Pluimers went down heavily on the wet cobbles, almost blocking the road, but somehow Van der Poel managed to swerve around his stricken compatriot, just missing Pluimers' head, and then accelerate across to Vermeersch's wheel. Red Bull's Van Dijke was the only other rider able to make this same junction.
This trio soon caught the quartet up front, who'd already dropped Alleno. Brunel was the next to lose ground, leaving six up front. Of these, only Van der Poel and Vermeersch were fully committed to the pace-making. Yet, helped in part by a string of crashes in the peloton chasing a minute or so behind, the breakaway group kept edging away.
Approaching the hardest section of the Muur, Van der Poel eased away and cruised up the steep and wet cobbles towards the top, while his former companions struggled in his wake. He pushed his lead out to 40 seconds crossing the final climb of the Bosberg and kept most of that advantage until he eased off in the final kilometer to celebrate the addition of another big one-day Classic to his palmarès.
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