Will Omloop Het Nieuwsblad’s changed finale lure Van der Poel to the start line?

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.

For now, Van der Poel is giving little away, but his preparation is ticking along. He is currently training in Spain around the Costa Blanca, and earlier this week he logged a demanding session of close to five hours on the bike, 157 kilometres, and almost 2,700 metres of climbing. The kind of work that suggests the engine is being primed for a sharp road debut, even if the exact date is still under wraps.

Inside Alpecin Premier Tech, the door is clearly open. Speaking to Wieler Revue earlier this month, team manager Christoph Roodhooft said he would wholeheartedly welcome Van der Poel on the start line: “Last year he was very clear that he didn’t want to do Opening Weekend. I was disappointed, because the weekend is important for a Belgian team. A few days later he won Le Samyn with ease, but in the weekend of Omloop and Kuurne he was already very good.”

If Van der Poel does decide to make his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad debut, he will not only line up alongside Pidcock, Van Aert and De Lie, but face a deeper field of heavy hitters too. The provisional start list also includes Biniam Girmay, Matthew Brennan, Christophe Laporte, Tim Wellens and Paul Magnier.