A blisteringly fast and hugely unpredictable Belgian National elite men's road race saw UAE Team Emirates-XRG racer Rune Herregodts outsmart the top favourites for the biggest victory of his career.
Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was second across the line at the end of an ultra-flat course where the sprinters like Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) were foiled by a mass break of some 60 riders in the first hour, with Fabio Van Den Bossche (Soudal-QuickStep) in third.
Despite an overall victory in the ZLM Tour two years ago being his biggest win to date before Sunday, Herregodts has long had a reputation for being able to read a race brilliantly. And the former medical student certainly proved the sharpest in the three-up break of non-favourites that fought it out for the win.
After testing the waters with 3.5 kilometres to go, the 27-year-old then positioned himself perfectly for a sprint where his hypothetically stronger rivals should have been able to beat him comfortably, and that proved just enough to clinch the day's victory.
"I still can't believe it," Herregodts told Belgian television afterwards about his completely unexpected but faultlessly forged success.
"I felt ambitious, but avoiding a sprint seemed impossible. When I missed the main group, I thought it was over."
"Then I pushed myself harder and it turned into a criterium race. It took some getting used to riding for myself, but I had incredible legs today."
2026 Belgian National Championships: the scale of his surprise road race victory starts to sink in for Rune Herregodts (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
The absence of Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull–Bora-Hansgrohe) created a wide-open race on a flat course from Antwerp to Brasschaat, even if the sprinters were expected to dominate. Yet more missing men included Jasper Philipsen's righthand man Gerbe Thijssen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) while stage racers like Maxim van Gils (Lotto-Intermarché), Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) and Junior Lecerf (Soudal-QuickStep), were also absent from a course that did them no favours.
An ultra-fast first part of the course, with an average speed of over 50kmh for the first hour, made for both no breaks and a lot of sore legs, but perhaps with such a great opportunity for the sprinters, that iron control by teams like Alpecin was only to be expected. Abruptly though, the scenario changed in an almost definitive way, as their control crumbled and no less than 28 riders suddenly went clear. Containing four riders apiece for Soudal-Quick Step and Lotto-Intermarché, not to mention three for Alpecin-Premier Tech and at least one rider from Lidl-Trek, Decathlon CMA CGM and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, it was difficult to see who would want to pull such a major move back.
Things grew even tougher for the sprinters when another 33 riders joined the 28 ahead, including members of UAE Team Emirates-XRG like Herregodts as well as Cofidis. By now the remnants of the peloton were at 4:00 and after a second hour run off at over 53 kilometres, after an opening segment where it seemed the sprinter's teams had had the upper hand, suddenly the boot was very much on the mass breakaway's foot.
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2026 Belgian National Championships Elite Men's Road Race: Alpecin-Premier Tech tried to keep a lid on the breaks in the first hour - and succeeded. (Image credit: Getty Images)
The breathless pace continued despite several attacks. There had been little no mention of Jasper Philipsen or Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) on race radio and it seemed like the game was over before it had really begun for the sprinters. Then when it emerged they were in a bunch six minutes down, that theory was amply confirmed. The third hour of racing flashed by at an almost equally fast pace, too - averaging just over 50.6kmh.
As the penny dropped amongst the 60+ leaders that the race was in their hands, cohesion all but collapsed, and so it was that a third of their number managed to bludgeon their way clear. The media was quickly talking about the fact that Sven Nys (Lidl-Trek) was present in the 20-strong group ahead and yet again collaboration proved to be at a minimum, allowing riders like Herregodts to test the water.
Eventually, Herregodts repeated moves saw the talented time triallist and nine other riders go clear - Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto-Intermarché), Gil Gelders and Fabio van den Bossche (both Soudal-Quick Step),Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Nys, Dries De Bondt (Jayco-AlUla), Quinten Hermans (Pinarello-Q36.5), Michiel Coppens (BEAT) and despite crashing earlier, Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
Into the final lap, and Rickaert made his move, with only Van den Bossche and the irrepressible Herregodts the only ones able to make it across. Nys did his utmost to chase them down, but the trio succeeded in opening a gap of some 40 seconds. Van den Bossche was on paper the fastest, but at the end of such a long, fast race, anything could happen.
Herregodts ensured the pace was kept as high as possible, and despite using up so much energy, still had the strength to keep on top of the situation. As Sporza observed on their live updates of the race, for all three of the riders ahead, a National Champion's jersey would be a gamechanger in their career, and yet with Nys and co. still less than a minute behind, there was no time for too much strategic planning.
Finally, though, Herregodts played it perfectly and kept the coolest of heads, challenging once to see who was the strongest of his rivals in the last five kilometres, then playing a blinder in the final sprint for the line. It had been one of the most unusual of National Championships, yet nobody could fault the way it was won.
2026 Belgian National Championships Elite Men's Road Race: Rune Herregodts on the attack in the last hour (Image credit: Getty Images)
Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
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