Results Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne 2026 | Victory for Visma! Matthew Brennan takes biggest career win as dominant sprint ends chaotic Opening Weekend
Cycling
British prodigy Matthew Brennan has claimed victory at Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne for Team Visma | Lease a Bike after a brutal and fragmented edition of Opening Weekend ended in a reduced bunch sprint stripped of several headline favourites.
After a day shaped by crashes, cobbled pressure and crosswinds, the final selection came down to a hardened front group. From there, Brennan proved comfortably fastest.
Wellens crash sets early tone
The race had already been defined by attrition long before the sprint unfolded.
An early seven-rider break featuring Johan Jacobs, Roger Adria, Matis Louvel, Dries De Bondt, Frits Biesterbos, Storm Ingebrigtsen and Cole Kessler forced the peloton to remain attentive, but the defining shift came before the hills had fully taken hold.
Tim Wellens crashed in the fight for position approaching what had been labelled a key point in the race. He abandoned soon after, removing a major engine from UAE’s options and reinforcing the tense, unstable mood that had already characterised the weekend.
Mont Saint Laurent blows apart sprint script
On Mont Saint Laurent, the peloton fractured decisively.
Arnaud De Lie, Jonathan Milan and Dylan Groenewegen were all distanced as the pace lifted. Paul Magnier then punctured at the worst possible moment on the cobbles, ending his chances of contesting the finale.
Further pressure over the Kluisberg ensured that the expected full bunch sprint scenario was dismantled.
By the time the early break was caught, the race had already filtered out many of the riders tipped for victory.
Crosswinds and chaos thin the contenders
Inside the final 35 kilometres, crosswinds added another layer of selection. Echelons formed, and around 25 riders were shed from the front as the race split and reformed in waves.
Jasper Philipsen briefly looked compromised after suffering a puncture and being forced into a bike change. He managed to return to the front group, though with limited team support remaining.
The finale was shaped less by one decisive long-range attack and more by cumulative damage. Each acceleration, each regrouping and each exposed section of road narrowed the pool of contenders further.
By the time the race returned to Kuurne for the local laps, the sprint field had been reduced to those who had survived both terrain and wind.
A sprint of survivors
With many pre-race contenders already eliminated, the run-in became a tense positioning battle between riders who still had speed left after a relentless day.
Before the final sprint for victory however, a later attack caused a momentary scare for the trains, although with 1.5km to go, it was all back together. From there, the sprint was a locked in finale, and in that fight for the line it was Matthew Brennan who opened things up and won with ease at the line.
Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne once again delivered a second act to Opening Weekend that was anything but predictable. What began as a traditional sprinters’ opportunity evolved into a war of attrition, and only those who survived the crashes, cobbles and crosswinds were left to fight for the win.
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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