Matthew Brennan takes the sprint at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

As is usually the case in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, there was a lot of excitement in the middle part, but ultimately, there was a regrouping and a sprint finish where the news is that the top favorite, Jasper Philipsen, did not win after being the main animator of the day.

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is once again decided in a sprint where Brennan was the fastest

No matter how much we try to draw conclusions from the spectacle, year after year, after watching Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, we are left with a feeling of anticlimax. There is a lot of excitement in the middle part, but the favorable stretch that leads the peloton from the area where the Flemish hills and the French border are located, where the city of Kortrijk is situated, next to which Kuurne is located, makes the sprint the most repeated ending.

This year's edition of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne was marked in its first half by a breakaway of 7 cyclists, including Roger Adrià along with some notable names like Johan Jacobs and Dies de Bondt. An initial stretch where tension and crashes were not lacking, the most serious of which affected Tim Wellens, who had to retire with obvious signs of pain.

 

 

 

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At 86 kilometers from the finish, hostilities were definitively unleashed on the ascent to the cobbled wall of Mont Saint-Laurent, where Jasper Philipsen personally tried to break the race. A small group formed, favored by the strong wind on the flat stretch after the summit, but a large group merged again. The only effect was to take out fast men like Jonathan Milan and Dylan Groenewegen.

The play would be repeated on the Kruisberg, the most selective wall climbed in this Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, but again, after the climb, it was Lotto-Intermarché that took care of closing the gap. There was one last opportunity to definitively break the race on the Cote de Trieu, where this time it was Dylan van Baarle who sought his chance. Again, a small group formed that would ultimately be neutralized.

With little to report in the long stretch remaining towards Kuurne, beyond the attack of a very young Héctor Álvarez who made an appearance or Philipsen's flat tire that he quickly resolved after changing bikes with a teammate, they reached the final circuit where there were not even attempts to attack with a Visma-Lease a Bike setting the pace with all intention.

The race got out of control in a small open stretch when there were barely 2 kilometers to go, and the main victim was Jasper Philipsen, who lost position and, without teammates, so close to the finish, it was already impossible for him to be in a position to fight for victory. It was Visma-Lease a Bike, in the figure of Laporte, who made a perfect launch to hand over the victory to his teammate Matthew Brennan, who achieves what is only the third victory for the Dutch team this season, two of which are his, after the one achieved in the last stage of the Tour Down Under.

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2026 Classification

1. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) 4h26'05''
2. Luca Mozzato (Tudor) +00''
3. Matteo Trentin (Tudor) +00''
4. Matevz Govekar (Bahrain-Victorious) +00''
5. Mike Teunissen (XDS-Astana) +00''
6. Laurenz Rex (Soudal-QuickStep) +00''
7. Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) +00''
8. Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM) +00''
9. Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost) +00''
10. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +00''