Peerless Van der Poel cruises to crushing Omloop Het Nieuwsblad victory

Start as you mean to go on. There were no surprises at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) cruised to an emphatic victory in Ninove on his first race day of 2026

The Dutchman floated clear alone with disarming ease on the Muur van Geraardsbergen with 16km to go, but his winning effort had already begun almost 30km earlier on the steep narrow climb of the Molenberg. He took deft evasive action to avoid a crash at the base of that climb before powering from a standing start to bridge up to attacker Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) by the summit.

They were joined over the other side by Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and they zoomed across to the remnants of the day’s early break, quickly putting a minute into the peloton.

Van der Poel was clearly the strongest on the following climbs, but he smartly knocked off the pace just enough on the Leberg, Berendries and Tenbosse to keep a six-man leading group intact as far as Geraardsbergen.

His strength was such that he seemed to pull clear of Vermeersch and Van Dijke without even realising. They simply couldn’t keep pace with a seated Van der Poel on the first cobbles of the Muur, and he was already well clear by the time he hit the steepest section.

Van der Poel continued to pile on the pressure over the Bosberg and he would solo to a resounding victory, 22 seconds ahead of Van Dijke, who outsprinted Vermeersch for second place. Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike) led the chasers home at 53 seconds, but they hadn't really been in the same race as Van der Poel.

The early phase of the race was animated by a five-man break that formed shortly after the start from the Kuipke velodrome in Gent. Jelte Krijnsen (Jayco-AlUla), Alexis Renard (Cofidis), Clément Alleno (Burgos-Burpullet BH), Vincent Van Hemelen (Flanders-Baloise) and Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies) quickly built a buffer of three minutes, while the block headwind led to something of a truce behind across the first cobbles and hills, including the Lebeg and Lange Munte.

The escapees still had 2:30 in hand as they entered the final 80km on a grisly, grey afternoon in Flanders, but the intensity in the peloton was beginning to rise. The tension as ratcheting upwards too, and a mass crash in the peloton brought down some 20 riders, including Fred Wright (Pinarello-Q36.5) on the approach to the Eikenberg with 62km to go.

Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Premier Tech squad hit the front with intent for the first time once the Eikenberg began to bite, and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) was among those struggling off the back. Over the other side, Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) endured a mechanical setback and a slow bike change, while Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was also distanced after an untimely puncture. The two fast men were doomed to an energy-sapping and ultimately futile pursuit to get back into the race.

The following Wolvenberg would see the first major move of the day, with Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) attacking alone over the top of the climb, eager to anticipate the inevitable acceleration from Van der Poel.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG took up the reins for Tim Wellens with 50km go, bringing back Asgreen and stringing out the bunch on the approach to the cobbles of Jagerij, where Stefan Küng’s chances were ended by a crash.

Vermeersch was the first onto the narrow climb of the Molenberg, and he opened a lead when a crash in the bunch created a gap. Van der Poel deftly side-stepped the incident, however, and he then powered across to Vermeersch at the top with 44km still to go.

They were joined by Van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), with Van der Poel performing the bulk of pace-making as they closed in on the break ahead of the Leberg. There was an inevitability about what followed, with Van der Poel biding his time for the Muur.

It was Van der Poel’s first-ever appearance at Omloop, but it was hardly the first time he was without peer at a race in this corner of the world. No man has ever won Omloop and the Tour of Flanders in the same year. But on this form, surely only Tadej Pogacar himself could deny Van der Poel at the Ronde.