E3 Saxo Classic presents an "even more challenging" route that could attract Tadej Pogacar

As one of the main preparation races for the Tour of Flanders, E3 Saxo Classics holds a special place in the Flemish Classics calendar. The last two editions were won by Mathieu van der Poel, but the 2026 race promises to be a bit different from recent years. The reason for a change has been explained by race director during a route presentation:

"We had a bit of a scare this year," organizer Jacques Coussens frankly admitted at a press conference for the E3 Saxo Classic. The tense moment was caused by simultaneously held youth event: "At one point, our junior race seemed to be crossing paths with the E3 Saxo Classic. We don't want that to happen again, hence this change."

With several notorious Flemish cols on the route including Oude Kwaremont, the Paterberg, the Taaienberg or the Tiegenberg, the winner of E3 often goes on to do well also at the spring highlight - the Tour of Flanders. However Muur de Geraardsbergen won't be part of the iconic route in 2026.

"The passage through Geraardsbergen will be cancelled," Coussens explained. "We'll head to La Houppe, our second climb of the day, via the Paddenstraat. Another new feature is that we'll tackle the E3 Col and the Oude Kwaremont twice. We'll tackle the latter climb from two different routes. The elevation gain will be increased from 2,800 to 3,000 meters, and the course will be about five kilometers longer. This will make the E3 Saxo Classic even more challenging."

With the extra difficult climbs on the course, the E3 could become an interesting stepping stone in the spring campaign of Tadej Pogacar who could make a natural bridge between Milano-Sanremo and Tour of Flanders this way, under the assumption that participating in both Monuments is a part of his 2026 plans.

In addition to the route change, the E3 Saxo Classic announced that the start and finish will remain in Harelbeke for the next six years.

The last two editions of the E3 Saxo Classic were won by Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel. Wout van Aert was the last Belgian winner in 2023, succeeding himself. Among active riders, Michal Kwiatkowski (2016) and Kasper Asgreen (2021) have also won the race in the past.