Van der Poel, Soudal Quick-Step and the storylines to follow on Opening Weekend

Mathieu van der Poel has tended to choose his races sparingly over the years, and so we can safely assume that he isn’t making his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad debut simply to ride around and re-familiarise himself with the Flemish Ardennes.

No, Van der Poel will look to make an early statement on Saturday, and with the addition of the Tenbosse and Parikeberg in the finale, the route gives him a helping hand. After last year’s bunch sprint, Flanders Classics seem determined to create a more selective race this time out. There is a bigger chance of the strongest man prevailing, and that man seems likely to be Van der Poel.

The withdrawal of Wout van Aert removes an important reference point for Van der Poel, though he will at least have Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) for company in the Briton’s lone outing of the year on the cobbles, and that might prove the duel of the day.

But Van der Poel’s true rival on the cobbles these days is Tadej Pogačar, and a win on Saturday would send a message ahead of their clashes later in the Spring – even if no male rider has ever won both Omloop and the Tour of Flanders in the same season.

The end of the Remco Evenepoel era has triggered a shift at Soudal Quick-Step, where the cobbled Classics are once again the core of the team’s identity. Fittingly, the announcement of Evenepoel’s departure last summer coincided with Paul Magnier’s late-season purple patch, and the Frenchman looks set to be the centrepiece of their Classics challenge in the years ahead.

The 21-year-old got his season off to a flying start with two stage wins at the Volta ao Algarve, and he will hope to go one better than last year’s second place at Omloop. The Van der Poel factor, mind, makes it a very different race, but it’s all part of the learning curve for the Frenchman, who will get another bite of the cherry at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday.

Opening Weekend was also set to be an early test for new arrivals Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven, though the latter is now absent through illness. Van Baarle won Omloop three years ago, but can he still make a telling impact on the cobbles in 2026? This weekend will offer some important early pointers.

Visma | Lease a Bike have endured an ill-starred start to 2026 and that sequence continued when Wout van Aert was forced to withdraw from Omloop due to illness. But the Belgian’s absence will be an opportunity for others to shine, most notably Matthew Brennan.

The Briton was, with due deference to Paul Seixas, the outstanding neo-professional of 2025, clocking up a dozen wins and catching the eye with a preternaturally assured debut at Paris-Roubaix. 

Brennan is already off the mark for the new season with a win at the Tour Down Under, but sprinting is only a part of his arsenal. The hope at Visma is that Brennan can develop into a Classics winner, eventually taking over from Van Aert as their spring focal point. After a sparing introduction twelve months ago, he takes on a full programme of cobbled races this year.

Visma also have the on-form Christophe Laporte in their line-up this weekend, but Brennan will hope to survive deep into the finale at Omloop, while his rapid finish makes him a very obvious contender in Kuurne.

Tadej Pogačar doesn’t start his season until next weekend at Strade Bianche, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG are already well on course to replicate last season’s record haul of victories. It’s not even March and the main man hasn’t entered the game, but their running tally is already at 13 wins.

A crash at the Tour Down Under keeps Jhonatan Narváez sidelined for Opening Weekend, but UAE can still lean on the experienced Tim Wellens, who showcased his form with a consummate victory at Clásica Jaén two weeks ago. 

The Belgian champion has hit hitherto unseen levels since joining UAE in 2023, but he’s still missing a big win on the cobbles from his palmarès. In April, he’ll ride in the service of Pogačar, but Opening Weekend is his chance to lead.

“My numbers at Clásica Jaén were already incredibly good, my best ever over 60 minutes,” Wellens told Sporza. “I feel like my engine is getting stronger every year.”

There are no guarantees in cycling. Three years ago, Arnaud De Lie looked like the coming man of the cobbled Classics when he placed second at an edition of Omloop coloured by Visma’s numerical dominance. Twelve months later, with Visma again dictating terms, De Lie and Tom Pidcock (then of Ineos), led the resistance, albeit to no avail.

Remarkably, that was about as good as it’s ever gotten on the cobbles for De Lie, who would endure wretched spring campaigns in both 2024 and 2025. On each occasion, he pulled the plug on his Classics campaign after Gent-Wevelgem. In four years as a pro, De Lie has yet to make the start line of the Tour of Flanders, much less contend to win it.

Hope springs eternal at this time of the year and De Lie – still only 23 – is the figurehead of the merged Lotto-Intermarché squad. Early results haven’t been eye-catching after an ankle injury tempered De Lie’s pre-season, but the serious business begins on Opening Weekend. 

“It’s getting better every day, but I still have to work on becoming the best version of myself,” De Lie told Sporza. Omloop would be a good place to start.