The E3 Saxo Bank Classic will take place on Friday 27th March 2026. The race formerly known as E3 Harelbeke is regarded as ‘The little Tour of Flanders’ due to its shared climbs with the Ronde van Vlaanderen route, including the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont. The one-day cobbled classic hits after Milan-San Remo and tees up a run of action that includes In Flanders Fields – from Middelkerke to Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Tom Boonen has won here the most with a total of five victories, including a dominant stretch of four consecutive wins. Leiedal Koerse, the women’s edition, ran in 2022 and 2023 until its cancellation.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) won his second consecutive edition last year ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). Van der Poel seems to have avoided a serious hand injury after his crash in Milan-San Remo so is fit to line up once again. This will only be Pedersen’s second race back following the early-season fractures to his wrist and collarbone.
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2026 key information
Date: Friday 27th March 2026
Start: Harelbeke, Belgium
Finish: Harelbeke, Belgium
Distance: 208km
TV coverage: HBO Max, FloBikes, Sporza
2025 winner: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Premier-Tech)
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2026 route
The E3 Saxo Bank Classic has shaken things up for 2026. Organisers have added a double ascent of the Oude Kwaremont from a different direction and slotted in the ‘E3-Col’ climb. At 1.2km in length, it brings an average gradient of 6% and will be undertaken twice, after 113km of racing and in the last 35km of the day.
The first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont comes after 121km, just after the debut of E3-Col and will be scaled in an unused direction via Keuzelingstraat. The race heads over the likes of the Taainberg and Eikenberg before encountering the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont duo in the final 42km. From there, it’s once again over the E3-Col as the last climb of the day of the Tiegemberg comes with 20km remaining.
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2026 favourites
Previous winner Van der Poel will be on the start line for the E3 Saxo Classic. Trying to knock him off the top spot and prevent a third straight win will be Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), perhaps a hard ask in only his third race day this year. Former winner Wout van Aert will not be here for Visma-Lease a Bike, but Frenchman Christophe Laporte will be, having finished fourth at Omloop Nieuwsblad. If a rider goes clear, the last 20km will be a chance for the chasing bunch to reel them back in and force a bunch finish instead.
Cyclist‘s ratings:
- ★★★★★: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
- ★★★★: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
- ★★★: Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-QuickStep), Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM)
- ★★: Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling), Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious), Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost), Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
- ★: Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling), Iván García Cortina (Movistar), Fred Wright (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
E3 Saxo Bank 2026: How to watch
The 2026 E3 Saxo Classic is available to watch in the UK and Ireland on HBO Sports after Discovery+/TNT Sports’ move to the platform on Thursday 26th March. It is also showing on TNT Sports 1 in the UK for television viewers.
Elsewhere, it’s VTM and Eurosport in Belgium (and Eurosport throughout the rest of Europe), Max and FloBikes in the USA, FloBikes in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and DirecTV in Latin America.
If the E3 Saxo Classic isn’t being broadcast in your country, or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked.
E3 Saxo Bank 2026: UK TV times
All times are GMT and subject to change by the broadcasters
HBO Max: 12:50-16:45
TNT Sports 1: 15:00-16:45
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2026 start list
E3 Saxo Bank Classic: Previous winners
2025: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
2024: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
2023: Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
2022: Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
2021: Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
2020: No race (COVID pandemic)
2019: Zdenek Štybar (Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
2018: Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors)
2017: Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team)
2016: Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)
2015: Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
2014: Peter Sagan (Cannondale)
2013: Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard)
2012: Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step)
2011: Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek)
2010: Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank)
2009: Filippo Pozzato (Team Katusha)
2008: Kurt Asle Arvesen (Team CSC)
2007: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic)
2006: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic)
2005: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic)
2004: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Davitamon)
2003: Steven de Jongh (Rabobank)
2002: Dario Pieri (Alessio)
2001: Andrei Tchmil (Lotto-Adecco)
2000: Sergei Ivanov (Farm Frites)