Beyond the favourites: five riders to watch at Dwars door Vlaanderen 2026

Florian Sénéchal could really surprise here, in the shadow of Philipsen and Del Grosso. The Frenchman endured a lot of bad luck the last few years, but seems to be rid of that. Now, at Alpecin-Premier Tech, he's really showing himself again.

At the Ename Samyn Classic, he sprinted to a nice 8th spot. That may not look like much, but it certainly did him good after all the bad luck he's had over the last few years, giving him trust. That directly showed at the GP Denain, he was very active and coloured the race. At the end, he did a leadout for the faster Henri Uhlig. In Gent-Wevelgem, he tried to attack but didn't get away, and then did a leadout for Philipsen.

The fact that he can do this in races again will give him a lot of ambition. In Dwars door Vlaanderen, it seems like he'll get the chance to race for himself with Van der Poel not starting, even though Philipsen and Del Grosso will be placed above him in the hierarchy.

The way he raced in Denain and Gent-Wevelgem should also be the best option here; try to anticipate. If that doesn't work out, he can still do a leadout for Del Grosso or Philipsen later on in the race, for a place of honour, as he did in Denain. It looks unlikely that a sprint will decide this race, so it still seems like a good idea to let Sénéchal attack beforehand.

It might even be interesting to get into the break. With the relatively flat last 40 km of Dwars door Vlaanderen, you can that way anticipate the hills, and get over them in the elite group. You then don't need to ride, as you can play the card that you were in the break all day. The last task that then remains is holding on until the finish to get a good result.

We saw nice examples of this in the past, with Abrahamsen finishing 2nd out of the break in 2024 and De Bondt also being in that group, Lazkano finishing 2nd in 2023, and Politt ending 5th in 2022 with O'Brien also in that group. This is a race where getting in the early break really could offer you a chance.

Huub Artz is a very interesting young prospect. It looks like he had a bit of bad luck at the end of February, though. He was meant to do the opening weekend and Samyn, but got taken off the startlist in all of them. Due to that, he didn't race between the Algarve and the Tirreno.

However, he seems to be getting back into shape, as his race in Gent-Wevelgem looked promising. Out of all spring classics, Dwars door Vlaanderen may be the race that suits him best. Similar to Alpecin, Lotto Intermarché also doesn't have the outright favourite here, but does have two interesting cards to play with De Lie and Berckmoes, actually a pretty similar duo as Alpecin has.

So, also for Artz, it looks like trying to anticipate would also be a good move. The early break could also be a nice option for Artz; he showed numerous times in the past that he has the engine for it.

Thibaud Gruel is doing his first spring classics campaign this year. With his first grand tour under his belt last year, the Vuelta, he seems to have taken a step up. In E3, which is a very tough race, he very nicely ended up in the group sprint for 6th place. In Gent-Wevelgem, he was even stronger, being with the best on every ascent of the Kemmelberg.

It seems like Dwars door Vlaanderen would suit him even better, as he can use his punch here better on the tarmac climbs, where it's easier to stand on the pedals. He also has a really good sprint if the race comes down to a reduced sprint. It'll be very interesting to see what the young Frenchman can do here. 

Rick Pluimers actually had his breakthrough at the end of 2024, finishing 4th in the very tough Geraardsbergen stage in the Renewi Tour, 5th in the GP Wallonie, and 2nd in the Super 8 Classic. He confirmed that in the spring of 2025, winning the Muscat Classic, finished 5th in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and almost winning a Tirreno stage. Afterwards, he got his first grand tour under his belt with the Giro.

Both the experience he gained in the spring classics and the fact that he did his first grand tour, should make for the fact that can take another step up. He also masters the art of positioning; he's always where he needs to be, which is really important in the Flemish classics. However, crashing in the Omloop het Nieuwsblad certainly didn't help. He started the Molenberg, the most crucial point in the race, in 2nd place behind Florian Vermeersch, but then unfortunately slid out.

It looks like he didn't suffer too much from that crash, though. In the E3, he was still fighting for a nice result when he broke his chain on the Oude Kwaremont. In other words, his last races don't represent the shape he's in currently. It looks like the Tour of Flanders is too tough for him in this phase of his career, so he should be really focused on a nice result in Dwars door Vlaanderen. 

Sticking with the Tudor theme, and that is their Italian rider Luca Mozzato, who has been performing well across the block of Belgian racing. The 28-year-old Italian joined Tudor from the now-defunct Arkea for the 2026 season, and the signing has already brought a 2nd place at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and top 10's in Gent-Wevelgem, Bredene Koksijde, and the Ronde van Brugge. 

Let's not forget that Mozzato has also been on the podium of the Tour of Flanders, when he finished second after being promoted from third place after Michael Matthews was relegated due to a sprint deviation.

With the form the Italian is in, it would not be a surprise to see Mozzato swoop in and take another top five in a big one-day race.