Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in a bunch sprint, giving his team a much-needed morale boost after delayed season starts for the team's top riders.
Luca Mozzato and Matteo Trentin (Tudor) were second and third.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne information
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, a one-day race in Belgium, comes one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and together the races form the Opening Weekend of the Belgian Classics season.
While Omloop het Nieuwsblad uses much of the course for the Tour of Flanders, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne only skirts the numerous bergs that pepper the Flemish Ardennes. The course uses the Tiegemberg, Berg ten Houte, Kruisberg/Hotond, Cote du Trieu and Kluisberg but a flat final 61km tips the race in favour of the sprinters.
The race starts in Kortrijk in 2025 and finishes in Kuurne.
In 2025, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) surged to victory in a sprint ahead of Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-PremierTech),
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne history
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne was first held in 1945 and is now about to hold its 74th edition.
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Valère Olivier was the first winner and Belgians have gone on to dominate the race, with a total of 53 home winners. Of them, the decorated Tom Boonen holds the record of three victories, in 2007, 2009, and 2014.
The late February date has often seen wintery conditions, and the race has had to be cancelled on three occasions: 1986, 1993, and 2013. That makes it 73 editions in the past 76 years, but there have in fact been 74 winners, with Alfred De Bruyne and Leon Van Daele sharing the honours in 1961 after a close finish that the officials were unable to call.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2026 route
Map for the 2026 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (Image credit: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne)
The race organisers for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne will use a similar 194.9km route to what was used last year, with the course around Kuurne tackling some of the most popular climbs of the Spring Classics.
There are 13 climbs along the route beginning with the Tiegemberg after just 16.7km of racing. The last ascent, the Kluisberg, tops out with 59.5km to go, leaving the sprinters ample time to chase back on if they can.
2026 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne climbs
Tiegemberg (1.4km, 4% avg., 8% max), 178.2km to go
Volkegemberg (1km, 5.1% avg., 8.5% max), 160.6km to go
Lepelstraat (2.1km, 3.4% avg, 5.7% max), 144.5km to go
Bossenaarstraat (1.3km, 5.6%, 9% max), 128km to go
Berg ten Houte (1.1km, 6.2%, 13% max), 123.6km to go
La Houppe (1.9km, 4.8%, 10% max), 116.4km to go
Hameau des Papin (1.2km, 6.6%, 16.2% max), 98.7km to go
Le Bourliquet (1.3km, 6.8%, 15.3% max), 90.3km to go
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