Five riders to watch at the 2026 Tour of Flanders

Michael Valgren suffered from a horror crash in the 2022 Route d'Occitanie, breaking his pelvis and rupturing about every ligament in his left leg. Afterward, he, of course, had to recover for a long time. To give him time, he was placed in the development team of EF for one year in 2023.

In that year, you could see him recovering and growing towards his old self again, with his results getting better as the year progressed. In 2024, we first saw a glimpse of the old Valgren again. In Dwars door Vlaanderen, he made the elite group and gave a very good impression. Unfortunately, he got dropped on a flat cobbled section close to the finish, as this doesn't suit him, but it was a big step in the right direction.

A bit over a month later, he just missed out on a Giro d'Italia stage win, finishing second behind Benjamin Thomas. Exactly a week after that, he grabbed an impressive 4th in a very tough stage. He was on the right track.

Onwards to 2025, Valgren became 8th in the Strade Bianche, on the very tough new parcours. However, three days later, Valgren crashed in the Tirreno and broke his collarbone; spring classics campaign over. 

Fast forward to 2026. Again, he proved himself in impressive shape in Strade Bianche, finishing 13th after working for teammate Ben Healy. This time, the Tirreno didn't disappoint. In the race he crashed out of last year, he won a stage in this year, a true full-circle moment. Both in Milan-Sanremo and E3, he looked very impressive too. He didn't get a very close result as he doesn't have the best sprint, but he looked very strong on the hills. 

And let that exactly be what the Tour of Flanders has: a lot of hills. In his super 2018 year, where he won both the Omloop het Nieuwsblad and the Amstel Gold Race, he finished 4th in the Tour of Flanders. On other occasions, he also showed that he has a huge engine, look at the 2021 World Championships in Leuven, for example. He is one of those rare riders who performs the better the harder the race is. 

Could this edition of the Tour of Flanders be the race where he shows himself to be fully back, by getting a nice result in a race of monument length? It seems like it could be, let's hope he pulls it off.

Romain Grégoire is an interesting name on the startlist this year. The young puncheur wants to further develop his abilities and thus added a Flemish classics campaign to his calendar besides the Ardennes classics, which he'll also ride. He has proved himself as a puncheur numerous times, so it'll be interesting to see what he can do in the cobbled races. 

He has already ridden the E3 this year, the race which is called "the mini Tour of Flanders", where he looked impressive on the climbs. A very important art to master to be able to perform in Flanders is positioning. The young Frenchman seems to be able to do that pretty well, so that definitely is an advantage.

He has struggled with the toughness of monument-length races in the past. However, with his 4th place in the Strade Bianche this year, he seems to be making steps also in that aspect. Obviously, the Italian gravel race isn't 250+ km, but if it comes down to how tough the race is, with its super-long final, this definitely is a benchmark.

So, what is to be expected from him for the Tour of Flanders? He looks like he has it in him to perform here, but it definitely isn't a certainty. It's his debut in this race, which is 280 km of pure chaos. Not many manage to perform here on their debut. The best recent debut performance is that of Antonio Morgado, finishing 5th in 2024. 

Magnus Sheffield already proved that he can perform here, finishing 6th in 2024. However, the young American struggles with consistency. Last year, when he won the last stage of Paris-Nice, he talked about how tough it is to be a pro cyclist in his interview. 

This year, he seems to be doing really well. He opened up his season really nicely with a 6th in the general classification of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana. In the Omloop, he crashed, so that result doesn't say too much about his shape. In the Tirreno-Adriatico, he finished in a nice 8th place in the general classification. In E3, he made the group sprint for 6th place, showing good form on the climbs.

It would be good for his confidence if he could also get a nice result in the Tour of Flanders. A top-ten finish is a nice result for him to aim for.

Toon Aerts is a very intriguing rider on the startlist. He actually is one of the best cyclocross riders in the world, who now wants to explore the world of road cycling. He actually got some nice results on the road already when he was still a full-time cyclocross rider, for example, a 4th in the general classification of the Baloise Belgium Tour, a top ten in Dwars door het Hageland, and so on. 

Now, he has the support of a WorldTour team. Last year, he already rode for Lotto Intermarché from May onwards. He did very well racing for his own result in races like the Baloise Belgium Tour and the Tour de Wallonie, but also in support of, for example, Arnaud De Lie, in the Renewi Tour. 

This year, he has also been really impressive already. After a short break after the cyclocross season, he started training again. He opened his season in the GP Denain, directly in a really nice shape. He further proved that in Volta a Catalunya, which isn't evident, as that is a WorldTour-level race. 

Having that race in the legs is perfect with the eye on the Tour of Flanders, exactly a week to recover and find compensation in the legs. Aerts, as a cyclocross rider, can also position himself really well. There is a good chance that he'll be the first rider of the Belgian team in the result of the Tour of Flanders

Dylan Teuns has some really nice results in his name in the Tour of Flanders. In 2020, he finished 11th in the group behind Van der Poel and Van Aert. In 2022, he finished in a very impressive 6th place, just two seconds behind the winner Van der Poel. In 2024, he finished 8th, after getting caught in the final meters of the race, he would've been second.

A very impressive track record. And if he keeps the streak of performing in even years going, that's a nice sign with the eye on Sunday. He easily is the best card to play here for Cofidis; it'll be interesting to see what the Belgian can do.