Cor Vos
After coming third in the 2025 edition of Omloop Nieuwsblad and second in 2022, Demi Vollering finally added the Opening Weekend cobbled Classic to her palmarès on Saturday. The FDJ United-Suez rider got the better of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney of Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto at the line after the two broke away from the peloton on the Kapelmuur. The chase was led across the line by Lorena Wiebes of SD Worx-Protime 21 seconds behind the winner.
[race_result id=9181 stage_id=0 count=10 gc=0 year=2026]
0:00
/0:09
How it happened
- Hoping to repeat the breakaway success of 2025, a group of four made their way off the peloton early in the race. Lea Lin Teutenberg (Lotto Intermarché), Britt de Grave (Citymesh-Customm), Jony van den Eijnden (Citymesh-Customm), and Emilie Fortin (Minimax) gained over three and a half minutes on the peloton, which was not about to repeat last year's finale.
- As the race crossed the halfway mark and the bulk of the climbing approached, the gap to the breakaway dropped significantly. The four breakmates were absorbed by the peloton with under 50 km remaining, and it looked like the win would go to one of the pre-race favourites.