Belgian super talent Jarno Widar has confirmed part of his schedule for 2026, ahead of his step up to the WorldTour with Lotto Intermarché, with a Grand Tour debut and two Monument appearances on his provisional plan.
After another very impressive campaign on Lotto's development team in 2025, Widar was named the 'Promising Rider of the Year' for a second season running at the Kristallen Fiets end-of-year cycling awards in Belgium, organised by daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
Although the messy merger between Lotto and Intermarché hasn't yet been finalised, Widar will certainly be a part of their plan, with the ambitious plan for his first season confirming his standing among the team's stars.
"Normally, I'll be riding the Strade Bianche, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the spring," Widar told HLN.
"Maybe the Amstel Gold Race too, but that depends on how I finish the Tour of the Basque Country. After that, the Vuelta a España will be my first Grand Tour, and I'll close the season with the Tour of Lombardy.
"I'm really looking forward to it—we can only dream and do our best. It's going to be a journey of discovery, isn't it? I'm very curious about that."
Widar, 20, has been one of the dominant forces in the under-23 peloton the past two years, netting GC wins at the Giro d'Italia Next Gen, Ronde de l'Isard and Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta, along with several stages at each event.
He's also impressed in one-day races, winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23, Flèche Ardennaise and the European Championships U23 road race this past season. Widar suffered cramps at the World Championships in Rwanda and missed out on a big goal there, with fellow top up-and-coming talent Lorenzo Finn taking victory for Italy.
Widar also narrowly missed out on the overall title at the prestigious Tour de l'Avenir, behind the hugely promising young French racer Paul Seixas, who has already established himself in the WorldTour with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. However, the Belgian did win two stages after close-fought battles with the Frenchman.
His highlight for 2025? "The European Championship, definitely, but the two stage wins at the Tour de l'Avenir are really close," he said.
"The battles I fought there with Paul Seixas... I've rewatched that footage several times because I find it so beautiful.
"I'm especially pleased that I've made a huge step forward in terms of values. And thankfully, the results followed. I'm very happy with that. The most important thing for me is that I've seen progress within myself."
Widar was cautious to put excessive pressure on his own shoulders for his first WorldTour season, highlighting how just making it into the professional system was what he was dreaming of. He will have big targets, nevertheless, and as one of the top climbing prospects in the world, Lotto-Intermarché will be desperate to unlock his full potential.
"It's a dream come true. For me, it doesn't really matter what I achieve anymore, because when I was a little boy cycling around here, it was already a dream in itself to ride among the pros," said Widar to HLN.
"I'm going to experience that now. I've already achieved something that will make me very happy . I'm proud of that. Although, of course, I do have new dreams. [But] I've learned to just keep quiet and set goals only in my head and with the team. And then work towards them calmly."
