Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026: Van der Poel solos to triumph

foto: Cor VosOn the Molenberg, Mathieu van der Poel kicks things off alongside Florian Vermeersch and Tim van Dijke. By the time they hit the Muur van Geraardsbergen, the Dutchman leaves his companions behind and powers solo to the win. Van Dijke outsprints Vermeersch for second place. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 2026 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

1. Mathieu van der Poel (nld) 4:53:55
2. Tim van Dijke (nld) + 0:22
3. Florian Vermeersch (bel) + 0:24
4. Christophe Laporte (fra) + 0:53
5. Aimé De Gendt (bel) + 0:54
6. Tobias Lund Andresen (den) + 0:57
7. Jordi Meeus (bel) s.t.
8. Anthony Turgis (fra) s.t.
9. Alexis Renard (fra) s.t.
10. Luke Lamperti (usa) s.t.

Race report
Timo de Jong launches the first attack from the start. He doesn’t get away immediately, but after about 5 kilometres the move finally sticks. longside Jelte Krijnsen and Michiel Lambrecht, he builds a 30-second advantage.

A crash then brings down De Jong and Lambrecht. They press on for a while, but are ultimately reeled in by the chasing peloton.

Krijnsen rides solo at the front for a while before being joined by Alexis Renard, Clément Alleno, Vincent Van Hemelen and Alexys Brunel. The five open up a lead of 4 minutes on the peloton.

On the Eikenberg, the gap is reduced to 2 minutes as Alleno loses contact at the front. Tom Pidcock is dropped from the peloton on the climb, and moments later Paul Magnier has to change bikes.

The two end up in a chasing group that also includes Magnus Sheffield.

On the Molenberg, Florian Vermeersch puts in an acceleration. As Rick Pluimers goes down behind him, the Belgian instantly opens a gap. Mathieu van der Poel quickly shuts it down, with Tim van Dijke on his wheel. They join the four escapees.

On the Leberg, they extend their lead over the peloton to 1 minute. Brunel cannot keep up with the pace at the front and falls back to the main group, where Pidcock, Philipsen and Magnier have also rejoined.

The gap drops to 48 seconds In the section up to the Muur of Geraardsbergen, while both Arnaud De Lie and Matthew Brennan go down inside the final 20 kilometres.

On the Muur, Van der Poel drops the others and crests 20 seconds ahead of Van Dijke and Vermeersch. That gap has doubled on the Bosberg.

Van der Poel solos to victory, with Van Dijke comfortably outsprinting Vermeersch for second place.

Other interesting reads: route and start list 2026 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.