2026 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start list - Van der Poel kicks off 2026 road seasons at Opening Weekend
The 2026 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad takes place on Saturday, February 28, starting in Ghent and finishing in Ninove.
In total, there are 25 teams on the start list, each fielding 7 riders, resulting in a total peloton of 175.
All 18 WorldTour teams feature alongside 7 ProTeams. The 7 ProTeams include Burgos Burpellet BH, Cofidis, Flanders-Baloise Pinarello-Q36.5, TotalEnergies, Tudor, and Unibet Rose Rockets.
Defending champion Søren Wæerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) returns with Uno-X Mobility in what is the Scandinavian team's first cobbled Classic as a WorldTour team.
Fresh off winning a record-breaking eighth elite men's cyclocross world title, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) will kick off his 2026 road season by making his debut at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Meanwhile, Wout van Aert’s (Visma | Lease a Bike) recovery had gone to plan after fracturing his ankle in a crash at the Zilvermeercross in Mol in early January, but in the final days before the race he was forced to withdraw due to illness.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Men's 2026 start list
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