It was almost 6pm when the sun set on the weekend. Across much of northern Europe, cyclists can begin to visualise the comfort of spring after what has been an unforgiving and, at times, unrelenting winter. Cycling fans also celebrate the longer daylight hours because of what it signifies: the Classics are back. Winter weather aside, the world has been a turbulent place of late. Cycling – doing it or sitting on the sofa watching others do it – is escapism. The Opening Weekend 2026 rolled around with a reassuring rhythm of history repeating itself. Despite it being his debut, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), was predictably magnificent on Saturday at Omloop Nieuwsblad and although not as dominant, his countrywoman Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) was equally as effective as she won the women’s race.
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The supremacy of the Netherlands’ best male and female rider is as sure as the changing of the seasons. However, it wouldn’t be the Classics if there was no frenzy bubbling to the surface. The men’s and women’s Omloop and Sunday’s Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and Omloop van het Hageland were punctuated by the sounds of cries of anticipation (or pain), brakes squealing and carbon striking cobblestone. A number of key riders abandoned due to injuries as the hectic Belgian parcours took their toll.
In that attrition, collective force mattered as much as individual brilliance. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were every bit the team their Classics roster promised to be. And what of Soudal Quick-Step? They might not have come away with a podium place for their efforts, but there were signs that The Wolfpack were out hunting again. That being said, here are the main takeaways from Opening Weekend 2026.
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Should rivals no longer ride with the favourites?
In both the men’s and women’s Omloop races, the key favourites and eventual winners found themselves off the front with fellow escapees willing to help them. Among others, Van der Poel had Florian Vermeersch of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who expended energy to pull the group away from the chasers, only to be dropped by the flying Dutchman on the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Third place on the day was the second best result of the Belgian’s career after a podium at Paris-Roubaix in 2021. Therefore it might seem harsh to criticise Vermeersch who rides for a team where leadership status is hard to come by, but taking equal turns on the front with Van der Poel is asking for trouble.
More inexplicable were the tactics of Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto), who worked with Vollering in the finale despite knowing her sprint was inferior. The Polish rider has been in this position plenty of times before – being one of the strongest in the race, but losing out in a sprint. It was unlikely she could have got away from Vollering before the final five kilometres, but to not force Vollering to take up the majority of the work at the front seems an odd choice. Niewiadomia is one of the greatest cyclists of her generation, capable of extraordinary feats, like her 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift heist – one of the greatest races ever. So her career record of 21 wins seems unjust. Vollering, two years her junior, has 59.
Niewiadomia and Vollering going shoulder to shoulder at Omloop (Image: Pim Waslander / Getty Images)
It takes more than good legs
Niewiadoma, so often missing out despite being one the strongest, might wonder, how do I win a major Classic? Yes, obviously, you need to be one of the best, as she undoubtedly is. But it takes more than that, as shown by Van der Poel. Is the Dutchman the greatest bike handler in road cycling history? He might just be. On the lower slopes of the Molenberg on Saturday, he somehow, extraordinarily, didn’t hit the deck when Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling) slid out in front of him. It’s hard to imagine any other rider with the possible exception of Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling), being capable of avoiding disaster in that specific moment.
It’s not the first time Van der Poel has evaded such misfortune, something his great rival Wout van Aert has been unable to do throughout his career. Van der Poel makes the improbable look natural. All kinds of angles, tilts, drastic changes in direction, only require a slight rebalance or perhaps the unclipping of a pedal, and he’s away again, unharmed while chaos ensues all about.
Read more: We are in the Pogačar-Van der Poel era, but who is more likely to win all five Monuments?
Van der Poel’s teammate, Jasper Philipsen, was looking to make it back-to-back wins at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday, and like his friend, he looked the best rider on the cobbled bergs, often pushing to the front to devastating effect. The other sprinters, like Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) were simply unable to follow him. However, by the finish he was unable to compete in the sprint due to his earlier efforts. Timing, like Van der Poel and Vollering know, is everything when it comes to converting superior ability into wins at major Classics.
Philipsen was one of the strongest on the cobbled bergs at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (Image: Tomas Sisk-Pool / Getty Images)
Cycling is still a team sport
For all the individual nous of Van der Poel and Vollering, nothing is certain in this sport. Thank goodness. The Opening Weekend, as ever, reminded us: control is provisional. Alpecin-Premier Tech’s aggression in Kuurne ended up leaving them light on personnel in the final sprint. While Visma-Lease a Bike still had plenty of domestiques to support Matthew Brennan to the biggest win of his impressive but early career. Lidl-Trek were unlucky to lose sprinter Elisa Balsamo to a crash in the finale of Omloop van het Hageland, which was won by Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech).
Kool won the sprint at Omloop van het Hageland on Sunday (Image: Rhode Van Elsen / Getty Images)
Teams expend energy to keep their riders out of the messy middle of the peloton, but also to set up attacks and sometimes it doesn’t work out. On Sunday at Kuurne, with 90km to go, Lotto-Intermarché exploded the race for their leader Arnaud De Lie, but in doing so destroyed his own chances. But sometimes the end results don’t tell the full story. Two teams who will have been encouraged by their showings on the weekend were Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Soudal Quick-Step, who both struggled in recent years. Red Bull, through the likes of Jordi Meeus, Laurence Pithie, and the Van Dijke brothers (Tim and Mick) were cohesive and effective. As were Soudal Quick-Step, with new signing Dylan van Baarle active and impressing at Kuurne and on another day (and on a different course) could have stayed away from the marauding peloton.
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The Opening Weekend hinted that 2026 could be the Classics season in which teamwork returns to dominate the cobbles. It’s something we haven’t seen much of in the 2020s – an era presided over by superstars. Can collective might counter the individual brilliance of Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar?
Read more: How to beat Tadej Pogačar
Are softer parcours more interesting?
Although hard, the Opening Weekend races are not as challenging as what is to come this spring. The crowning races of the Spring Classics are the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, which feature significantly more climbing and harsher cobbled sections respectively. However, Van der Poel and/or Pogačar have been untouchable in these races in recent years, often in long range moves that are never caught.
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As much as it was impressive, Van der Poel’s solo triumph on Saturday was the least exciting race of the Opening Weekend. He chose the ascent of the Muur van Geraardsbergen to saunter away from Vermeersch and Van Dijke, and he wasn’t seen again. On the men’s side of things, Kuurne offered more for the neutral to watch to the end; its less severe course allowed for more open racing.
Before Flanders and Roubaix, the significant matter of Milan-Sanremo takes place on March 21. Despite being 300km, the race is given the maxim of the easiest Monument to finish due to its predominantly flat route on which most riders can survive to the finish. However, it’s also considered the hardest to win, with its final 30km being finely balanced between sprinters, puncheurs and climbers. Last year it was one of the most exhilarating races of this decade. We will see what magic La Classicissima will conjure in three weeks' time. What is certain is that the Classics are well and truly back.
