Mathieu van der Poel closed the cyclocross season in the Netherlands with his eighth world title and will open the road season in Belgium in just over two weeks. The news is not yet official, nor is the entire program of the Dutch champion known, but he will almost certainly be at the start of the Omloop Nieuwsblad. Van der Poel has never faced the opening classic of the Belgian season, scheduled on Saturday, February 28th from Bruges to Ninove: it sounds strange, but that's how it is.

Flanders Classic, after the great success of cyclocross, with a new press release announcing the names of the first champions present, wanted to remind all fans of the nine cult events of 2026 on the road: from Omloop to Brussels Classic on June 7th.

The novelty is the name change of Gand-Wevelgem, which will take place on Sunday, March 29th with the denomination "In Flanders Fields- from Middelkerke to Wevelgem". A significant change for the enhancement of the Flemish territory, as has already happened with the route of the mythical race, the Tour of Flanders: the Wall of Gerardsbergen, which we know as Grammont, an iconic Flanders location, has been sacrificed in the name of track revolution, and in the finale, the deadly circuit of Paterberg-Old Kwaremont-Koppenberg, around which paid VIP zones for tens of thousands of fans have been created. Ticketing for cycling races in Belgium has been a reality for many years, but with a very clear project: specific zones, the most spectacular (where the race is almost always decided), experiences with champions, high-level gastronomy and music. As every year, Flanders Classic will also draw a number of tickets for these areas to give to fans.

Some names of the champions racing on Saturday, February 28th in Omloop Nieuwsblad are already known: Van der Poel should make his debut, and then there will be Van Aert, Philipsen, Magnier, De Lie, Girmay and Pidcock for the first great challenge on the Flemish Walls.

On Sunday, March 29th, In Flanders Fields will call to battle the great sprinters comfortable on pavé: Jonathan Milan, fifth in 2024 and third in 2025 when he was crucial for teammate Mads Pedersen's victory, awaits Philipsen, Magnier and De Lie, a speed festival in one of the most loved Northern classics.

In the Flanders Classic calendar, on Wednesday, April 1st, here is the Dwars door Vlaanderen, the classic in which two years ago Van Aert fell at over 80 km/h: that image of pain, with the Flemish's screams on the asphalt, moved everyone. It will be another opportunity for powerful sprinters, like Philipsen, Girmay, Magnier and De Lie.

And we're at the Tour of Flanders, the Ronde, 110th edition, on Sunday, April 5th, among Walls, stones and history. Alongside the two-time world champion and winner of the Belgian superclassic, Tadej Pogacar, will be his breakaway companions in recent years, Van der Poel and Van Aert. Two steps below, everyone else.

On Wednesday, April 8th, there's the Scheldeprijs in Schoten: Philipsen, Merlier, Jakobsen and Groenewegen are announced. A week later, on April 15th, the appointment is with the Ronde van Limburg, the Tour of Limburg, a classic passage between the Flanders pavé and the Wallonia asphalt climbs. On Friday, April 17th with Brabantse Pijl-Arrow of Brabant we enter the Walloon climate: Pidcock is the star, plus Gregoire and Coquard.

On Sunday, April 19th in the Netherlands, the beer race, the Amstel Gold Race, from Maastricht to the finish at the top of the sacred Cauberg hill: in 2025, Skjelmose's success in a three-way sprint over Pogacar and Evenepoel. Remco himself will be the most anticipated, with Skjelmose, Pidcock, Ciccone, Scaroni, Jorgenson and Healy.

The closing of the Flanders Classic program is scheduled on June 7th with the Brussels Classic, a week after the great finish of the Giro d'Italia in Rome.