He chose the Omloop Nieuwsblad to open his road season and in the Belgian race, among walls and pavé sections, Mathieu van der Poel claimed his first victory of 2026. The champion of Alpecin-Premier Tech, at his first participation in this competition, climbed the Muur progressively and after a solo breakaway of 15 kilometers crossed the finish line with arms raised, beating by about thirty seconds his compatriot Tim van Dijke (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) and Belgian Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates - XRG).

THE RACE - Right after the official start, the first action of the day takes shape: from the group, Dutch riders Timo de Jong (Team Picnic PostNL) and Jelte Krijnsen (Team Jayco AlUla) quickly break away, joined by Belgian Michiel Lambrecht (Team Flanders – Baloise). After a few kilometers with regular pace changes to gain ground on the peloton, due to a crash, the Picnic rider and the Flanders rider hit the ground. They get back up quickly but fail to catch the wheel of Krijnsen, who continues solo with about twenty seconds advantage over the group.

Thanks to the chase organized by Frenchmen Alexis Renard (Cofidis), Clément Alleno (Burgos Burpellet BH) and Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies) together with Belgian Vincent Van Hemelen (Team Flanders - Baloise), the pace increases and within a few kilometers the breakaway riders become five. The advantage grows to over 3'00" and the attackers can thus tackle the first climb of the day: the Leberg. With a situation remaining virtually unchanged, the race reaches the pavé section of Eikenberg and the men from Uno-X Mobility and Alpecin-Deceuninck take charge of controlling the pace at the head of the main group.

After about eighty kilometers of racing, having passed the pavé section of Eikenberg, the selection began: the group split into two sections and some riders lost the wheels of the best. Fatigue began to take its toll on the legs of the escapees who after 100 kilometers of racing had an advantage of 2'30".

Everything remained fairly calm for about twenty kilometers but, approaching the second passage of the Leberg, on the narrow roads made slippery by rain, several riders crashed including De Pooter, Teunissen and Groves.

With 43 kilometers remaining, a new situation emerges: the early escapees are caught by another group and thus a small group of seven men forms, composed of van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), van Dijke (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Krijnsen (Team Jayco AlUla), Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), Renard (Cofidis), Van Hemelen (Team Flanders - Baloise) and Brunel (TotalEnergies). The latter loses the wheel shortly after and thus towards the Berendries six riders remain leading with 1'10" advantage over the group.

To be updated