Five riders to watch at the E3 Saxo Classic 2026 beyond the usual suspects

Matis Louvel was rocking up the pro peloton as a young rider, getting impressive results in the Flemish classics right away. However, a knee injury completely disrupted his development. Now, he is fully recovered. 

In 2025, he already started showing signs of the "old" Louvel. With the Tour de France in his legs last year, he should be able to really get back to his old form.

His preparation this spring looks to be going well, too. This is a race that suits him very much, so it would be great to see him really perform here again. 

Stan Dewulf is another rider who was a very exciting young prospect, but also endured bad luck. He had to be operated on a compressed femoral artery. 

In 2024, he made a nice comeback to the peloton, getting some solid results. However, last year, he broke his collarbone in Strade Bianche, so his spring was over. He did get the Giro d'Italia in the legs, however, helping build form.

That should be a good step up to really start performing again. He rode a strong beginning of the season and went straight to altitude on El Teide after the opening weekend. In other words, he should return here in top form. 

Having done the Ronde van Brugge two days before this race, where he was very attentive the whole day and finished in the first echelon, is a nice opening of the legs after altitude, with an eye on really performing here.

Valentin Madouas is a really interesting rider. He is one of those special ones who can perform on every terrain. From a podium place in the Tour of Flanders, to a T10 finish in the general classification of the Tour de France, to a podium in Strade Bianche, and even in the Olympic road race: Madouas has done it all.

He even has two top ten finishes to his name in this race; however, Madouas never seems to get the credit he deserves. You should really keep an eye on him, as he is one of the only riders who manages to perform in both the Flemish and Ardennes classics. 

The additions to the E3 parcours that make the race a bit tougher also shouldn't be a problem for Madouas, as he performs better the harder the race is. 

This is another with huge potential who really struggled in the past. In Hoelgaard's case, it was with long covid. However, he's fully recovered from that. In 2024, he slowly found his way back to his old form. 

Last year, even while he got sick in the middle of the spring, he finished 8th in Paris-Roubaix, a race that doesn't even perfectly suit him. He prefers a race like E3, with tough climbs. Afterwards, he got his first grand tour in the legs with the Tour de France; this is usually a nice step up for riders to handle the volume of the classics even better.

This year, he hasn't gotten any luck yet. However, the best races for him are still to come, starting with the E3 Saxo Classic, the race that maybe even suits him best. Uno X has a good support team here, which is really important for this race, as positioning towards the Taaienberg is key to performing here.

Iván García Cortina is an enigma. Belgian cycling commentator Michel Wuyts even called him "the strongest rider of the peloton" in 2020. However, he seems to have trouble fully living up to those expectations. He shows his talent sporadically, but seemingly can't turn it into consistent performance. 

In 2023, he performed really well in this race, finishing 5th. Last year, he finished in the top ten in the Tour of Flanders. However, it still seems like he isn't seen as a cobbles specialist. Is this the year he can consistently ride good results in the spring and really make that next step in these kinds of races? He too raced the Ronde van Brugge yesterday, and looked really good. A nice sign for the E3.