The big Flemish engine enjoyed the best spring of his road career in 2026, taking podiums at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Classic. Signed from Lotto in 2025, the reigning gravel world champion is here to keep Pogačar out of the wind and out of trouble on the chaotic opening stages, and to drive the Barcelona team time trial. He shot to fame at 22 by spending all day in the break at Paris-Roubaix and sprinting past Van der Poel for second.
Palmarès
- UCI Gravel world champion (2025)
- 2nd Paris–Roubaix (2021)
- 3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (2026)
- 3rd E3 Saxo Classic (2026)
- 2nd UCI Gravel World Championships (2024)
Cut-out factHe is a serving town councillor in his hometown of Lochristi and studied history at Ghent University while racing in the WorldTour — the town even hosts a race named after him.
The squad
Riding the 2026 Tour with Tadej Pogačar, Isaac Del Toro, Tim Wellens, Brandon McNulty, Adam Yates, Nils Politt, Felix Großschartner — see the full UAE Emirates-XRG team page.
Portrait: AI paper-collage render (gpt-image-2).
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