Omloop Het Nieuwsblad gives Van der Poel extra reason to show up with changed finale
Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock have already confirmed their presence, and Mathieu van der Poel is said to be weighing up a start too. With Arnaud De Lie also on the early list, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad looks set for a blockbuster opening to the Flemish spring on Saturday 28 February. The organisers published the 2026 route on Wednesday, and one detail stands out: the finale has been reshaped.
The men will race 207 kilometres from Ghent to Ninove, while the women cover 137 kilometres on the same finish run in. The start and finish remain fixed, with ’t Kuipke hosting the departure and Ninove once again serving as the stage for the winners’ finish line celebrations.
Last season, Søren Wærenskjold and Lotte Claes were surprise winners on a day where conditions and hesitation kept the race more together than many expected. The 2026 tweak feels designed to make that outcome harder to repeat.
The early part of the men’s race still features two passages over Haaghoek and Leberg, a duo that traditionally starts to thin the peloton and expose teams that arrive undercooked. The finale for both races begins around 45 kilometres from the finish and follows the familiar rhythm: Molenberg, then another stretch through Haaghoek and Leberg, and on to the Berendries.
From there, the course takes a different turn. Tenbosse and Parikeberg have been added, replacing the Elverenberg-Vossenhol that featured in recent editions. Parikeberg is the key: punchy and steep, with gradients up to around 12 percent, it is a more explosive climb that invites attacks at a point where the race is already on the edge.
It is a change that suits riders like Van der Poel who want to force a split, rather than wait for the Muur to do the damage.
After that, Omloop returns to its iconic closing sequence. The Kapelmuur in Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg remain the final major obstacles, before the 13km run in to Ninove, where the winners will be crowned on the Elisabethlaan.
Alongside the course tweak, the organisers also confirmed the teams on the start line.
All UCI WorldTour teams will line up for the men’s race, with seven ProTeams rounding out the field. Cofidis, Pinarello-Q36.5 and Tudor Cycling Team earned automatic invitations through their 2025 results, while Burgos-Burpellet-BH, Team Flanders-Baloise, TotalEnergies and Unibet Rose Rockets complete the wildcard line up.
The women’s race will also feature the full Women’s WorldTeam peloton. Seven Women’s ProTeams have been added to the start list: Cofidis Women Team, Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi, Lotto-Intermarché Ladies, Ma Petite Entreprise, Mayenne Monbana My Pie, St Michel Preference Home Auber93 and VolkerWessels Cycling Team.
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