Results De Brabantse Pijl 2026 | Anders Foldager takes sprint victory as late attacks are shut down into final climb

The 2026 Brabantse Pijl was a race that was attacked hard, but ended in a small peloton sprint. The many cobbled climbs and attacks were not enough to completely destroy the peloton, and the culimination of a ferocious chase was a sprint to victory where Anders Foldager rode to victory for Team Jayco AlUla.

The breakaway of the day consisted of Fabrice Lefevere, Jonah Killy, Michiel Coppens, Cedrik Bakke Christpjersen, Vojtech Kminek and Bram Dissel. A modest group which didn't threaten the peloton, but with some of its riders surviving into the difficult part of the race. With 67 kilometers to go Louis Vervaeke and Stefano Oldani attacked in the peloton and began the battle between the main teams.

In a difficult and explosive race like this, anticipating one's rivals can be quite beneficial, and so UAE tried with Tim Wellens and Florian Vermeersch also early on, as did Mauro Schmid, but the group was still relatively compact and the moves would end up being shut down. In was in the penultimate lap that the race truly blew up, with the ascent of the cobbled Moskesstraat

Hence with 31 kilometers to go Romain Grégoire attacked from the front, followed by Ramses Debruyne and later joined by Benoìt Cosnefroy. The peloton was large behind and the gap never grew big, and a few kilometers later the trio would be joined by three other men: Tibor del Grosso, Anthon Charmig and Milan Lanhove - Jelle Johannink also briefly joined them, but was the only one to quickly get dropped afterwards.

The six-rider group continued collaborating well into the final climb, with the ascents being pushed hard but not creating gaps between each other. This was necessary as several teams behind still had the firepower to put on a strong chase, including NSN, Jayco, Lotto and others.

The work of Mauro Schmid into the final climb was tremendous and the Swiss champion effectively closed the gap right at the base of the final climb. Mathieu Burgaudeau entered the steepest part of the climb with an all-out attack that created a gap to the peloton, and then only a few riders would join him back for a reduced uphill bunch sprint.

Lotto led it out and a Caja Rural rider looked to surprise with an early sprint, but in the approach to Overijse it was Jayco puncheur Anders Foldager who took the victory, a convincing one. Quinten Hermans and Benoît Cosnefroy sprinted to second and third.