Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026 is the current-season edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It is the women’s cobbled opener and still the quickest way to see who arrived in Flanders ready to race instead of simply survive. As the first true cobbled benchmark of the women’s spring, Omloop carries more signal than its calendar slot suggests and usually frames the rest of March in Flanders.
The 2026 route runs from Gent to Ninove over 137.6 km and again leans on short bergs, cobbles, and the pressure-cooker finale that defines the opening weekend. The likely shape is a hardening race of repeated accelerations, with the decisive move formed on or after the key cobbled climbs rather than from a calm bunch run-in.
The likely winner archetype is a classics leader who can handle constant positioning fights and still finish from a very small group.
Favorites: The current startlist is led by Lotte Kopecky, Marianne Vos, Demi Vollering, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, and Puck Pieterse.
Use the edition page for the owned preview surface and the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad startlist page for the current rider list.